Full Electron Delocalization across the Cluster in 1,12-bisBMes2-p-carborane Radical Anion.

Conjugation between three-dimensional (3D) carboranes and the attached substituents is commonly believed to be very weak. In this paper, we report that reducing 1,12-bis(BMes2)-p-carborane (B2pCab) with one electron gives a radical anion with a centrosymmetric semiquinoidal structure. This radical anion shows extensive electron delocalization between the two boron centers over the p-carborane bridge due to the overlap of carborane lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the BMes2 LUMO. Unlike dianions of other C2B10H12 carboranes, which rearrange to a nido-form, two-electron reduction of B2pCab leads to a rearrangement into a basket-shaped intermediate.

Trapping of a Transient Base-Stabilised Alumylene and Alumylene-Type Reactivity of a Self-Stabilising Dialumene towards Organic Azides.

The reduction of a carbene-coordinated, sterically encumbered terphenyl-substituted aluminium diiodide, (LRAlI2 ), yielded a "masked" dialumene (LRAl=AlRL), self-stabilised through [2+2] cycloaddition with a peripheral aromatic group. During the course of the reaction, a carbene-stabilised arylalumylene (LRAl:) was generated in situ, which was trapped using an alkyne, generating an aluminacyclopropene or a C-H activated product thereof, depending on the steric bulk of the alkyne. The masked dialumene also underwent intramolecular cycloreversion and dissociation into alumylene fragments, which reacted with various organic azides to yield monomeric or dimeric iminoalanes depending on the sterics of the azide substituent. The thermodynamics of monomeric and dimeric iminoalane formation were probed by theoretical calculations.

Carbodicarbenes and Striking Redox Transitions of their Conjugate Acids: Influence of NHC versus CAAC as Donor Substituents.

Herein, a new type of carbodicarbene (CDC) comprising two different classes of carbenes is reported; NHC and CAAC as donor substituents and compare the molecular structure and coordination to Au(I)Cl to those of NHC-only and CAAC-only analogues. The conjugate acids of these three CDCs exhibit notable redox properties. Their reactions with [NO][SbF6 ] were investigated. The reduction of the conjugate acid of CAAC-only based CDC with KC8 results in the formation of hydrogen abstracted/eliminated products, which proceed through a neutral radical intermediate, detected by EPR spectroscopy. In contrast, the reduction of conjugate acids of NHC-only and NHC/CAAC based CDCs led to intermolecular reductive (reversible) carbon-carbon sigma bond formation. The resulting relatively elongated carbon-carbon sigma bonds were found to be readily oxidized. They were, thus, demonstrated to be potent reducing agents, underlining their potential utility as organic electron donors and n-dopants in organic semiconductor molecules.

Synthesis and hydrogenation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-substituted diborenes via uncatalysed hydrogenative B-C bond cleavage.

The classical route to the PMe3-stabilised polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-substituted diborenes B2Ar2(PMe3)2 (Ar = 9-phenanthryl 7-Phen; Ar = 1-pyrenyl 7-Pyr) via the corresponding 1,2-diaryl-1,2-dimethoxydiborane(4) precursors, B2Ar2(OMe)2, is marred by the systematic decomposition of the latter to BAr(OMe)2 during reaction workup. Calculations suggest this results from the absence of a second ortho-substituent on the boron-bound aryl rings, which enables their free rotation and exposes the B-B bond to nucleophilic attack. 7-Phen and 7-Pyr are obtained by the reduction of the corresponding 1,2-diaryl-1,2-dichlorodiborane precursors, B2Ar2Cl2(PMe3)2, obtained from the SMe2 adducts, which are synthesised by direct NMe2-Cl exchange at B2Ar2(NMe2)2 with (Me2S)BCl3. The low-lying π* molecular orbitals (MOs) located on the PAH substituents of 7-Phen and 7-Pyr intercalate between the B-B-based π and π* MOs, leading to a relatively small HOMO-LUMO gap of 3.20 and 2.72 eV, respectively. Under vacuum or at high temperature 7-Phen and 7-Pyr undergo intramolecular hydroarylation of the B[double bond, length as m-dash]B bond to yield 1,2-dihydronaphtho[1,8-cd][1,2]diborole derivatives. Hydrogenation of 7-Phen, 7-Pyr and their 9-anthryl and mesityl analogues III and II, respectively, results in all cases in splitting of the B-B bond and isolation of the monoboranes (Me3P)BArH2. NMR-spectroscopic monitoring of the reactions, solid-state structures of isolated reaction intermediates and computational mechanistic analyses show that the hydrogenation of the three PAH-substituted diborenes proceeds via a different pathway to that of the dimesityldiborene. Rather than occurring exclusively at the B-B bond, hydrogenation of 7-Ar and III proceeds via a hydroarylated intermediate, which undergoes one B-B bond-centered H2 addition, followed by hydrogenation of the endocyclic B-C bond resulting from hydroarylation, making the latter effectively reversible.

Generation of a transient base-stabilised arylalumylene for the facile deconstruction of aromatic molecules.

While a stable base-free arylalumylene bearing a sterically encumbered terphenyl substituent has been reported previously, we herein report that our attempts to form a base-stabilised arylalumylene bearing a relatively small terphenyl substituent and an N-heterocyclic carbene base led instead to a "masked" dialumene (LRAl[double bond, length as m-dash]AlRL), self-stabilised by one peripheral aromatic group. Intriguingly, examining the behavior of this species or its transient dialumene formed from reducing the diiodoarylalane in aromatic solvents under different conditions reveals that they both decouple into the desired base-stabilised arylalumylene. This transient acyclic, dicoordinate alumylene is highly reactive, deconstructing benzene and toluene to furnish dialuminium derivatives of pentalene, providing the first example of a neutral AlI compound able to deconstruct these less reactive arenes. Computational insights were also gained on the dialumene dissociation and on the mechanism of arene deconstruction by alumylene.

Diboramacrocycles: reversible borole dimerisation-dissociation systems.

We report that the outcome of the tin-boron exchange reaction of a mixed thiophene-benzo-fused stannole with aryldibromoboranes is associated with the steric bulk of the aryl substituent of the borane reagent, leading to either boroles or large diboracycles as products. NMR spectroscopic studies indicate that the two products can reversibly interconvert in solution, and mechanistic density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal boroles to be intermediates in the formation of the diboracyclic products. The addition of Lewis bases to the diboracycles leads to the corresponding borole adducts, demonstrating that they react as "masked" boroles. Additionally, the reaction of the title compounds with a series of organic azides affords complex heteropropellanes, formally 2 : 1 borole-azide adducts, that deviate from the usual BN aromatic compounds formed via nitrogen atom insertion into the boroles.

Azide-alkyne cycloadditions with an electronically activated alkyne: indole formation via 1-aryl-1,2,3-triazole-derived imino carbenes.

We report that the use of a diaminoalkyne in the azide-alkyne cycloaddition with aryl azides leads to 3H-indoles under mild, uncatalysed conditions. Computations reveal that N2 extrusion from, in one case, isolable triazoles is facile, generating imino carbenes, which undergo intramolecular aryl C-H bond activation and give 3H-indoles as products.

An Unsymmetrical, Cyclic Diborene Based on a Chelating CAAC Ligand and its Small-Molecule Activation and Rearrangement Chemistry.

A one-pot synthesis of a CAAC-stabilized, unsymmetrical, cyclic diborene was achieved via consecutive two-electron reduction steps from an adduct of CAAC and B2 Br4 (SMe2 )2 . Theoretical studies revealed that this diborene has a considerably smaller HOMO-LUMO gap than those of reported NHC- and phosphine-supported diborenes. Complexation of the diborene with [AuCl(PCy3 )] afforded two diborene-AuI π complexes, while reaction with DurBH2 , P4 and a terminal acetylene led to the cleavage of B-H, P-P, and C-C π bonds, respectively. Thermal rearrangement of the diborene gave an electron-rich cyclic alkylideneborane, which readily coordinated to AgI via its B=C double bond.

Palladium-Catalyzed Homocoupling of Highly Fluorinated Arylboronates: Studies of the Influence of Strongly vs Weakly Coordinating Solvents on the Reductive Elimination Process.

C-C reductive elimination from [PdL2(C6F5)2] to form polyfluorinated biaryls has been a challenge for over 50 years. Thus, palladium-catalyzed homocoupling of arylboronates (ArF-Bpin) containing two ortho-fluorine substituents is very difficult, as the reaction typically stops at the [PdL2(ArF)2] stage after two transmetalation steps. The transmetalated complexes cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(C6F5)2] (3a), cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(2,4,6-C6F3H2)2] (3b), and cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(2,6-C6F2H3)2] (3e) have been isolated from the reaction of ArF-Bpin with Pd(OAc)2 in acetonitrile solvent, with no homocoupling observed. However, catalytic homocoupling proceeds smoothly in a "weakly coordinating" arene solvent as long as no ancillary ligands or coordinating solvents are present. DFT computations reveal that the active catalyst formed by arene solvent coordination leads to an overall reduced barrier for the reductive elimination step compared to the formation of stable [PdL2(ArF)2] complexes in the presence of a donor ligand or solvent L.

Hydrophosphination of boron-boron multiple bonds.

Five compounds containing boron-boron multiple bonds are shown to undergo hydrophosphination reactions with diphenylphosphine in the absence of a catalyst. With diborenes, the products obtained are highly dependent on the substitution pattern at the boron atoms, with both 1,1- and 1,2-hydrophosphinations observed. With a symmetrical diboryne, 1,2-hydrophosphination yields a hydro(phosphino)diborene. The different mechanistic pathways for the hydrophosphination of diborenes are rationalised with the aid of density functional theory calculations.

Metal-free borylative dearomatization of indoles: exploring the divergent reactivity of aminoborane C-H borylation catalysts.

While the dearomatization of indoles by carbon-boron bond forming reactions is new and quite promising, they are so far mainly metal-catalyzed. Here, we establish the use of metal-free catalysts in promoting such reactions in an atom-efficient way. The in situ generated ambiphilic aminoborane catalyst (1-Pip-2-BH2-C6H4)2 (Pip = piperidyl) promotes borylative dearomatization of various 1-arylsulfonyl indoles with pinacolborane in a syn addition fashion, with H and Bpin groups added respectively to the 2 and 3 positions of indoles. Catalysis proceeds with good to excellent conversion and essentially with complete regio- and diastereoselectivity. From mechanistic insights and DFT computations, we realized and established that prototypical boranes can also catalyze this borylative dearomatization.

Metal-Free Borylation of Heteroarenes Using Ambiphilic Aminoboranes: On the Importance of Sterics in Frustrated Lewis Pair C-H Bond Activation.

Two novel frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) aminoboranes, (1-Pip-2-BH2-C6H4)2 (2; Pip = piperidyl) and (1-NEt2-2-BH2-C6H4)2 (3; NEt2 = diethylamino), were synthesized, and their structural features were elucidated both in solution and in the solid state. The reactivity of these species for the borylation of heteroarenes was investigated and compared to previously reported (1-TMP-2-BH2-C6H4)2 (1; TMP = tetramethylpiperidyl) and (1-NMe2-2-BH2-C6H4)2 (4; NMe2 = dimethylamino). It was shown that 2 and 3 are more active catalysts for the borylation of heteroarenes than the bulkier analogue 1. Kinetic studies and density functional theory calculations were performed with 1 and 2 to ascertain the influence of the amino group of this FLP-catalyzed transformation. The C-H activation step was found to be more facile with smaller amines at the expense of a more difficult dissociation of the dimeric species. The bench-stable fluoroborate salts of all catalysts (1F-4F) have been synthesized and tested for the borylation reaction. The new precatalysts 2F and 3F are showing higher reaction rates and yields for multigram-scale syntheses.

A potent synthetic inorganic antibiotic with activity against drug-resistant pathogens.

The acronymously named "ESKAPE" pathogens represent a group of bacteria that continue to pose a serious threat to human health, not only due to their propensity for repeated emergence, but also due to their ability to "eskape" antibiotic treatment. The evolution of multi-drug resistance in these pathogens alone has greatly outpaced the development of new therapeutics, necessitating an alternative strategy for antibiotic development that considers the evolutionary mechanisms driving antibiotic resistance. In this study, we synthesize a novel inorganic antibiotic, phosphopyricin, which has antibiotic activity against the Gram-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE). We show that this potent antibiotic is bactericidal, and exhibits low toxicity in an acute dose assay in mice. As a synthetic compound that does not occur naturally, phosphopyricin would be evolutionarily foreign to microbes, thereby slowing the evolution of resistance. In addition, it loses antibiotic activity upon exposure to light, meaning that the active antibiotic will not accumulate in the general environment where strong selective pressures imposed by antibiotic residuals are known to accelerate resistance. Phosphopyricin represents an innovation in antimicrobials, having a synthetic core, and a photosensitive chemical architecture that would reduce accumulation in the environment.

Sequential Electrophilic Substitution Reactions of Tungsten-Coordinated Phosphenium Ions and Phosphine Triflates.

ion of chloride from [W(CO)5{PPhCl2}] with AgOSO2CF3 leads to the phosphine triflate complex [W(CO)5{PPhCl(OSO2CF3)}] which undergoes electrophilic substitution reactions with N,N-diethylaniline, anisole, N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine, toluene, biphenyl, naphthalene, 2,7,9,9-tetramethyl xanthene, and allyltrimethylsilane to form the chlorophosphine complexes [W(CO)5{PPhClR}], where R = p-diethylanilinyl, p-anisyl, 2-(N,N-dimethyl-4-methylphenyl), p-tolyl, p-phenylphenyl, 1-naphthyl, 4-(2,7,9,9-tetramethylxanthyl), and allyl. Abstraction of the second chloride with AgOSO2CF3 leads, in most cases, to the respective phosphine triflates [W(CO)5{PPhR(OSO2CF3)}], which react with ferrocene to form the ferrocenyl phosphine complexes [W(CO)5{PPhR(C10H9Fe)}]. The W(CO)5 unit can be removed via photolysis in the presence of bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane to form metal-free phosphines.

Sequential electrophilic P-C bond formation in metal-coordinated chlorophosphines.

In the presence of chloride abstractors, metal-coordinated chlorophosphines undergo facile room-temperature electrophilic substitution reactions with unsaturated organic substrates, leading to P-C bond formation. This methodology can be applied sequentially two or three times, stepwise or in one-pot reactions, to form phosphines with three different substituents. The reactions are rapid and high-yielding, and can be applied to a wide range of organic substrates, making them valuable tools for P-C bond formation.

The mechanism of permanganate oxidation of sulfides and sulfoxides.

Coupled-cluster (CCSD) and density functional computations are used to investigate historically competing mechanisms for the permanganate oxidation of sulfides and sulfoxides. The calculations all lead to a mechanism of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of permanganate, as opposed to historical mechanisms of attack of the sulfur atom by one O or by Mn. Such a mechanism, reminiscent of ozonolysis, may prevail in most permanganate oxidations. The ab initio activation enthalpies are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data; the ab initio activation entropies are not, possibly because of problems with Eyring equation assumptions.