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A Neutral Borylene and its Conversion to a Radical by Selective Hydrogen Transfer
Mohd Nazish1, Christina M Legendre1, Yi Ding1
1Universität Göttingen, Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Tammannstrasse 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
A successful selective reduction of X2B-Tip (Tip = 1,3,5-iPr3-C6H2, X = I, Br) with KC8 and Mg metal, respectively, in the presence of a hybrid ligand (C6H4(PPh2)LSi) leads to a stable low-valent five-membered ring as a boryl radical [C6H4(PPh2)LSiBTip][Br] (1) and neutral borylene [C6H4(PPh2)LSiBTip] (2). Compound 2 reacts with 1,4-cyclohexadiene, resulting in hydrogen abstraction to afford the radical [C6H4(PPh2)LSiB(H)Tip] (3). Quantum chemical studies reveal that compound 1 is a B-centered radical, and compound 2 is a phosphane and silylene stabilized neutral borylene in a trigonal planar environment, whereas compound 3 is an amidinate-centered radical. Although compounds 1 and 2 are stabilized by hyperconjugation and π-conjugation, they display high H-abstraction energy and basicity, respectively.
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