H2 activation by a highly electron-deficient aralkylated organoborane

Dalton Trans. 2015 May 21;44(19):8984-92. doi: 10.1039/c5dt00821b.

Abstract

The electron-deficient and sterically bulky trialkylborane derivative tris[bis(pentafluorophenyl)methyl]borane [1, B(CH(C6F5)2)3], has been synthesised and comprehensively characterised; detailed (1)H and (19)F NMR studies reveal two dynamic bond rotational processes in the solution phase. Despite conventional probes (Gutmann-Beckett and Childs methods) implying that the compound has a very limited Lewis acidity, it was used to generate frustrated Lewis pairs capable of heterolytically activating H2 in ethereal solutions, which suggests that the hydridophilicity of 1 is comparable to the potent Lewis acid B(C6F5)3.