Polyborane reactions in ionic liquids

Abstract

In contrast to reactions that have been observed in traditional organic solvents, decaborane olefin-hydroboration and alkyne-insertion reactions proceed in ionic liquid (IL) solvents without the need of a catalyst. These reactions now provide important new, high-yield synthetic pathways to functionalized decaborane and ortho-carborane clusters. As illustrated by the synthesis of n-B18H22, ILs can also provide an inert reaction medium for carrying out dehydrocondensation reactions leading to higher fused cage compounds. © 2006 IUPAC.