Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2025

Versatile CO2 Transformations into Complex Products: A One-pot Two-step Strategy
Published on: November 9, 2019
Achieving Control over the Reduction/Coupling Dichotomy of N2 by Boron Metallomimetics
Annalena Gärtner1,2, Uhut S Karaca3, Maximilian Rang1,2
1Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We report a detailed computational and experimental study of the fixation and reductive coupling of dinitrogen with low-valent boron compounds. Consistent with our mechanistic findings, the selectivity toward nitrogen fixation or coupling can be controlled through either steric bulk or the reaction conditions, allowing for the on-demand synthesis of nitrogen chains. The electronic structure and intriguing magnetic properties of intermediates and products of the reaction of dinitrogen with borylenes are also elucidated using high-level computational approaches.
Related Concept Videos
Alcohols from Carbonyl Compounds: Reduction
Catalytic hydrogenation is similar to the reduction of an alkene or alkyne by adding H2 across the pi bond in the presence of transition metal catalysts like Raney Ni, Pd–C, Pt, or Ru. Aldehydes and ketones can be reduced by this method, often under mild to moderate heat (25–100°C) and...
Hydroboration-Oxidation of Alkenes
Exceptions to the Octet Rule
Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Hydroboration
Hydroboration proceeds in a concerted fashion with the attack of borane on the π bond, giving a cyclic four-centered transition state. The –BH2 group is bonded to the less substituted carbon and –H to the more substituted carbon. The concerted nature requires the simultaneous addition of –H and –BH2 across the same face of the alkene giving syn...
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can...
Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism

