We have exploited the reactivity of antiaromatic boroles, gaining access to aryl-substituted monocyclic 1,2-azaborinines. The observed ring-expansion reaction of inherently electron-deficient boroles with organometallic and organic azides is demonstrated for representative examples. This substance class is expected to provide a new avenue into 1,2-azaborinine chemistry, especially in the area of functional organoboron materials. Our results are based on NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy as well as single-crystal X-ray crystallography and provide a virtually quantitative approach that also offers numerous points of variation.

Boroles with a fluoromesityl group on the B atom have greatly improved air stability compared to their mesityl analogues.

Herein, we present the results of our investigations on the effect of ortho substitution of aryl azides on the ring-expansion reaction of boroles, five-membered unsaturated boron heterocycles. These studies led to the isolation of the first 1,2-azaborinine-substituted azo dyes, which are bright yellow solids. One of the derivatives, (E)-2-mesityl-1-(mesityldiazenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetraphenyl-1,2-azaborinine, was found to be unstable in solution and to transform through a Jacobsen-like reaction into an indazole and 1-hydro-1,2-azaborinine. DFT calculations were performed to shed light on possible mechanisms to rationalize the unexpected azo-azaborinine formation and to draw conclusions about the role played by the ortho substituents in the reaction.

A series of 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylboroles substituted with different aromatic heterocycles (thiophene, furan, pyrrole, and dithiophene) in the 1-position were synthesized and characterized by means of NMR, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. In contrast to known 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylboroles, X-ray diffraction revealed a nearly coplanar arrangement of the aromatic heterocycles and the antiaromatic borole scaffold as a result of π-conjugation, which could be substantiated by DFT calculations. Furthermore, the 2,2'-dithiophene-bridged bisborole (14) exhibits a large bathochromic shift in the absorption spectrum, demonstrating the exceptional Lewis acidity of the nonannulated borolyl moiety.

Electronic and steric factors have been investigated in the thermalr ing expansion of borolesw ith organic azides,areaction that providesa ccess to highly arylated 1,2-azaborinines,BNanalogues of benzene.Reactions of avariety of boroles and organic azides demonstrate that the synthetic methodi sq uite generali nf urnishing 1,2-azaborinines,b ut the respective reaction rates reveal as trongd ependence on the substituents on the two reactants. The productsh ave been characterizedb yU V/Vis, electrochemical, NMR, and Xray diffractionm ethods, clarifying their constitutions and highlighting substituent effects on the electronic structure of the 1,2-azaborinines. Furthermore, analysiso fs everalp ossible mechanistic pathways for 1,2-azaborinine formation,a s studied by DFT,r evealed that at wo-step mechanism involving azide-borole adduct formation and nitrene insertion is favored.

Access to novel imine-substituted 1,2-azaborinines, as well as highly arylated boracyclohexa-3,5-dienes has been developed by ring expansion of boroles with diazoalkanes with varying degrees of steric bulk. The formation of a diazoalkane intermediate is also discussed for the reaction of ortho-brominated p-tolyl-azide with 1,2,3,4,5-pentaphenylborole. Structural details as well as UV/Vis spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetric data are provided. These boron-containing heterocycles have the potential to serve as building blocks for boron-containing materials.

A new synthetic approach to hydroboranes catechol-, pinacol-, and neopentylglycolborane has been developed. Starting from diboranes(4) B2cat2, B2pin2, or B2neop2, the respective boranes were obtained by heterogeneously catalyzed cleavage of the B-B bond in the respective diboranes with hydrogen. Group 10 metals were found to be effective catalysts for this reaction.

By a ring expansion reaction of boroles with nitrones a straightforward route to eight-membered O,N,B-containing ring systems was developed, which present a new structural motif in heterocyclic chemistry. Formally, these compounds can be considered as BN-analogues of eight-membered ring ethers containing three double bonds. The X-ray crystallographic data of a series of these oxazaborocine derivatives show that they adopt a boat conformation in the solid state.