The 1-trimethylsilylethynyl-2-diarylphosphanylethynylbenzene
substrates 7a–7c, with the diarylphosphanyl
groups = PPh2, P(o-tolyl)2,
or P(mesityl)2, were reacted with the strong boron Lewis
acid B(C6F5)3 at ambient conditions.
The starting materials 7a and 7b, featuring
rather small nucleophilic phosphanyl substituents, underwent
selective 1,1-carboboration at the CC-PAr2 moiety, forming rather unreactive unsaturated vicinal P/B Lewis
pairs 8a and 8b that show a relatively strong
internal P···B Lewis base/Lewis acid interaction.
In contrast, the PMes2 system 7c reacted with
B(C6F5)3 by a reaction sequence which
was initiated by 1,1-carboboration and involved tandem C6F5 and mesityl group migration to yield the unsaturated
annulated P/B Lewis pair 9, featuring an electron-withdrawing
C6F5 group at phosphorus. Compound 9 underwent cooperative P/B addition to the nitrogen atom of nitric
oxide to give the persistent FLPNO• nitroxide radical 12. Radical 12 was characterized by electron
spin resonance spectroscopy and by X-ray diffraction. It showed typical
nitroxide radical reactions.