Tetrazole-Functionalized Organoboranes Exhibiting Dynamic Intramolecular N→B-Coordination and Cyanide-Selective Anion...

Starting from two different cyano-functionalized organoboranes, we demonstrate that 1,3-dipolar [3+2] azide-nitrile cycloaddition can serve to generate libraries of alkyl-tetrazole-functionalized compounds capable of intramolecular N→B-Lewis adduct formation. Due to the relatively low basicity of tetrazoles, structures can be generated that exhibit weak and labile N→B-coordination. The reaction furnishes 1- and 2-alkylated regio-isomers that exhibit different effective Lewis-acidities at the boron centers, and vary in their optical absorption and fluorescence properties. Indeed, we identified derivatives capable of selectively binding cyanide over fluoride, as confirmed by ¹¹B NMR. This finding demonstrates the potentialities of this synthetic strategy to systematically fine-tune the properties of lead structures that are of interest as chemical sensors.