Boron-Based Lewis Acid Transition Metal Complexes as Potential Bifunctional Catalysts

Abstract

Lewis acid-transition metal (LA-TM) complexes, with the LA site functions as an electron acceptor and the TM center functions as an electron donor, have been emerging as a new type of bifunctional catalysts lately, different from traditional transition metal bifunctional catalysts. Due to their rapid developments recently, the boron-based LA-TM complexes, which are divided into three major types, the sp3, sp2, and sp boron-based complexes, are reviewed in this paper according to their binding features. Reactions promoted by this new type of LA-TM bifunctional catalysts have been surveyed, including migration reactions, activation of H-H/E-H/E-E bonds, hydrogenations, hydrosilylations, and transfer dehydrogenation reactions etc. This overview of boron-based LA-TM complexes could provide valuable information to explore the new horizon in LA-TM bifunctional catalysis.