Ag eneral method for the oxidative substitution of nido-carborane (7,8-C 2 B 9 H 12 À )w ith N-heterocycles has been developed by using 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ) as an oxidant. This metal-free B À Ncoupling strategy, in both inter-a nd intramolecular fashions,g ave rise to aw ide arrayo fc harge-compensated, boron-substituted nido-carboranes in high yields (up to 97 %) with excellent functional-group tolerance under mild reaction conditions.T he reaction mechanism was investigated by density-functional theory (DFT) calculations.Asuccessive single-electron transfer (SET), BÀH hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT), and nucleophilic attackp athway is proposed. This method provides an ew approach to nitrogen-containing carboranes with potential applications in medicine and materials.