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Characterizing Lewis Pairs Using Titration Coupled with In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy
Published on: February 20, 2020
Reversible O-H bond activation by an intramolecular frustrated Lewis pair
Petra Vasko1, M Ángeles Fuentes2, Jamie Hicks2
1Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK. petra.vasko@chem.ox.ac.uk simon.aldridge@chem.ox.ac.uk and Department of Chemistry, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyväskylä, P. O. Box 35, Jyväskylä, FI-40014, Finland.
Abstract:
The interactions of the O-H bonds in alcohols, water and phenol with dimethylxanthene-derived frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) have been probed. Within the constraints of this backbone framework, the preference for adduct formation or O-H bond cleavage to give the corresponding zwitterion is largely determined by pKa considerations. In the case of the PPh2/B(C6F5)2 system and p-tBuC6H4OH, an equilibrium is established between the two isomeric forms which allows the thermodynamic parameters associated with zwitterion formation via O-H bond cleavage to be probed.
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