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.

Cooperative B-H bond activation reactions with thio- and iminophosphoryl tethered ruthenium-carbene complexes are reported. The complexes show surprisingly different reactivities towards the commonly employed boranes CatBH, PinBH and BH ⋅LB as a result of different modes of metal-ligand cooperation. Although the iminophosphoryl system allows for selective 1,2-addition of the B-H bond across the Ru=C double bond, the sulfur analogue only delivers the 1,2-addition product for CatBH, whereas activation of BH and PinBH lead to further insertion reactions in one or more sides of the Ru-C-P-S-ring. The different reactivities can be explained by the differences in the electronics of the carbene complexes and the phosphoryl tether and by the Lewis acidities of the boranes. DFT calculations show that the mechanism of the reactions either proceeds by an addition across the Ru=C bond with different regioselectivities or across the Ru-S linkage.

A new pathway for the ring expansion reaction of antiaromatic boroles with organic azides is reported. While the reaction usually leads to 1,2‐azaborinines, it was diverted to the formation of a 1,2,3‐diazaborinine by changing the electronic characteristics of the reagents. The isolable azo‐azaborinine intermediate initially formed from the reaction of 1‐(2,3,4,5‐tetraphenylborolyl)ferrocene with 4‐azido‐N,N‐dimethylaniline gradually decomposed to a 1,2,3‐diazaborinine and benzonitrile. Both the spectroscopic properties and the reactivity of the heteroaromatic compound show analogies to pyridine, to which it is isoelectronic. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations provided insight into the mechanism of this unusual transformation.

The first examples of Lewis base adducts of the parent boraphosphaketene (H 2 B-PCO) and their cyclodimers are prepared. One of these adducts is shown to undergo mild decarbonylation and phosphinidene insertion into a BÀC bond of a borole, forming very rare examples of 1,2-phosphaborinines, B/P isosteres of benzene. The strong donor properties of these 1,2-phosphaborinines are confirmed by the synthesis of their p complexes with the Group 6 metals. Figure 1. Top: phosphaketenes and their decarbonylation chemistry. Bottom: boron-functionalized phosphaketenes and their phosphaethynolate constitutional isomers.

The 2‐aryl‐3,4,5,6‐tetraphenyl‐1,2‐azaborinines 1‐EMe3 and 2‐EMe3 (E=Si, Sn; aryl=Ph (1), Mes (=2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl, 2)) were synthesized by ring‐expansion of borole precursors with N3EMe3‐derived nitrenes. Desilylative hydrolysis of 1‐ and 2‐SiMe3 yielded the corresponding N‐protonated azaborinines, which were deprotonated with nBuLi or MN(SiMe3)2 (M=Na, K) to the corresponding group 1 salts, 1‐M and 2‐M. While the lithium salts crystallized as monomeric Lewis base adducts, the potassium salts formed coordination polymers or oligomers via intramolecular K⋅⋅⋅aryl π interactions. The reaction of 1‐M or 2‐M with CO2 yielded N‐carboxylate salts, which were derivatized by salt metathesis to methyl and silyl esters. Salt metathesis of 1‐M or 2‐M with methyl triflate, [Cp*BeCl] (Cp*=C5Me5), BBr2Ar (Ar=Ph, Mes, 2‐thienyl), ECl3 (E=B, Al, Ga) and PX3 (X=Cl, Br) afforded the respective group 2, 13 and 15 1,2‐azaborinin‐2‐yl complexes. Salt metathesis of 1‐K with BBr3 resulted not only in N‐borylation but also Ph‐Br exchange between the endocyclic and exocyclic boron atoms. Solution 11B NMR data suggest that the 1,2‐azaborinin‐2‐yl ligand is similarly electron‐withdrawing to a bromide. In the solid state the endocyclic bond length alternation and the twisting of the C4BN ring increase with the sterics of the substituents at the boron and nitrogen atoms, respectively. Regression analyses revealed that the downfield shift of the endocyclic 11B NMR resonances is linearly correlated to both the degree of twisting of the C4BN ring and the tilt angle of the N‐substituent. Calculations indicate that the 1,2‐azaborinin‐1‐yl ligand has no sizeable π‐donor ability and that the aromaticity of the ring can be subtly tuned by the electronics of the N‐substituent.