Crystalline potassium boryl dithiolate and diselenolate.

Area of Science:

• Inorganic Chemistry
• Organometallic Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• 1,2,4,3,5-trithiadiborolane and 1,2,4-triselena-3,5-diborolane are heterocyclic compounds containing boron, sulfur, and selenium.
• Cleavage of B-S and S-S bonds in such systems is challenging and less explored.
• Isolable boryl thiolates and selenolates are valuable synthetic intermediates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the reactivity of 1,2,4,3,5-trithiadiborolane and 1,2,4-triselena-3,5-diborolane with potassium graphite (KC8).
• To synthesize and characterize novel boryl dithiolate and boryl diselenolate compounds.
• To explore the structural diversity and stability of these organoboron sulfur and selenium compounds.

Main Methods:

• Chemical reduction using potassium graphite (KC8) as a reducing agent.
• Isolation and purification of reaction products.
• Structural characterization using techniques such as X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• Cleavage of both B-S and S-S bonds in 1,2,4,3,5-trithiadiborolane by KC8 yielded the isolable boryl dithiolate DmpB(SK)2 (3).
• Reduction of 1,2,4-triselena-3,5-diborolane with KC8 afforded the boryl diselenolate DmpB(SeK)(SeSeK) (4).
• The structure of the ligand-substituted diselenolate was authenticated, revealing unprecedented structural features.

Conclusions:

• Potassium graphite is an effective reagent for the reductive cleavage of B-S and S-S bonds in trithiadiborolane and related heterocycles.
• The study reports the first isolable boryl dithiolate and a novel boryl diselenolate with unique structural characteristics.
• These findings expand the scope of organoboron sulfur and selenium chemistry and provide access to new synthetic building blocks.