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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
Crystallographic Capture of a Free Triplet Borylnitrene
Shunlin Zheng1, Xiaoquan Chen1,2,3, Shihua Liu1
1Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510006 Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Borylnitrenes are key intermediates in chemical synthesis, but their propensity for 1,2-migration has precluded direct structural characterization. Here, we report the generation and in crystallo X-ray capture of a free triplet borylnitrene. This was achieved through the design of a 1,3,2-diazaborolyl azide precursor, where the incorporation of a long-wavelength absorber allows the photolysis of the azide unit in the solid state at low temperatures. Crystallographic analysis of the photolyzed crystal reveals a distinct contraction of the B-N bond, which combined with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and UV-vis spectroscopies, coupled to theoretical calculations, established a triplet ground state. This borylnitrene exhibits characteristic reactivities of free nitrenes, including hydrogen-atom abstraction, C-H and C-B bond insertion, Lewis base coordination, and [2 + 1] cycloaddition.
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