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An axially chiral, electron-deficient borane: synthesis, coordination chemistry, Lewis acidity, and reactivity
Marius Mewald1, Roland Fröhlich, Martin Oestreich
1Organisch-Chemisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstrasse 40, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Abstract:
An axially chiral dihydroborepine with a binaphthyl backbone and a C(6)F(5) substituent at the boron atom was prepared by transmetalation from the corresponding tin precursor. This novel motif was structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis as its THF and its PhCN Lewis acid/base complex. (1)H NMR measurements at variable temperatures of the former adduct revealed a remarkable dynamic behavior in solution. Several more Lewis pairs with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus σ-donors were synthesized and analyzed by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. The determination of the borane's Lewis acidity with the Gutmann-Beckett method attests its substantial Lewis acidity [85% with Et(3) PO as well as 74% with Ph(3) PO relative to the parent B(C(6)F(5))(3)]. Representative examples of Si-H bond activation (carbonyl reduction and dehydrogenative Si-O coupling) are included, demonstrating the chemical stability and the synthetic potential of the new chiral boron-based Lewis acid.
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