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Concept
Organoboron chemistry
Summary
Organoboron chemistry or organoborane chemistry is the chemistry of organoboron compounds or organoboranes, which are chemical compounds of boron and carbon that are organic derivatives of borane (BH3), for example trialkyl boranes. .
Organoboron compounds are important reagents in organic chemistry enabling many chemical transformations, the most important ones being hydroboration and carboboration. Reactions of organoborates and boranes involve the transfer of a nucleophilic group attached to boron to an electrophilic center either inter- or intramolecularly. α,β-Unsaturated borates, as well as borates with a leaving group at the α position, are highly susceptible to intramolecular 1,2-migration of a group from boron to the electrophilic α position. Oxidation or protonolysis of the resulting organoboranes may generate a variety of organic products, including alcohols, carbonyl compounds, alkenes, and halides.
The C-B bond has low polarity (the difference in electronegativity 2.55 for carbon and 2.04 for boron), and therefore alkyl boron compounds are in general stable though easily oxidized.
In part because its lower electronegativity, boron often forms electron-deficient compounds, such as the triorganoboranes. Vinyl groups and aryl groups donate electrons and make boron less electrophilic and the C-B bond gains some double bond character. Like the parent borane, diborane, organoboranes are classified in organic chemistry as strong electrophiles because boron is unable to gain a full octet of electrons. Unlike diborane however, most organoboranes do not form dimers.
Simple organoboranes such as triethylborane or tris(pentafluorophenyl)boron can be prepared from trifluoroborane (as the ether complex) and the ethyl or pentafluorophenyl Grignard reagent. The borates (R4B−) are generated via addition of R−-equivalents (RMgX, RLi, etc.) to R3B.
Alkenes insert into B-H bonds of boranes in a process called hydroboration. The process involves anti-Markovnikov addition.
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