Exploiting Pincer Ligands to Perturb the Geometry at Boron

Chemistry. 2017 Aug 4;23(44):10532-10535. doi: 10.1002/chem.201703045. Epub 2017 Jul 20.

Abstract

Boranes are ubiquitous in synthesis and materials but advancements in their development have been primarily restricted to the geometric energetic minima, trigonal planar complexes. This report discloses a class of boranes with expanded bond angles achieved by taking advantage of the structural rigidity of tridentate pincer ligands. The bonding of these novel boranes is investigated by X-ray crystallography and computationally.

Keywords: bond theory; boranes; constrained geometry; ligand effects; pincer ligands.