Frustrated Lewis pairs: Some recent developments

Abstract

The chemistry of some reactive frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) is reported. This includes intramolecular P/B and N/B FLPs, some of which were used as catalysts for the hydrogenation of electron-rich olefin substrates. Some advanced intermolecular FLPs are reported, which includes systems derived from very bulky alkenyl boranes obtained from 1,1-carboboration reactions of 1-alkynes with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane. Some such systems activate dihydrogen and transfer the resulting proton/hydride pair even to some electron-poor alkynes. Eventually, we report on the reaction of our intramolecular ethylenebridged P/B FLP with nitric oxide (NO). N,B-addition of the P-Lewis base/B-Lewis acid combination is observed to form a new type of a persistent aminoxyl radical. Some of the chemistry of the new FLP-NO radicals is presented and discussed. © 2012 IUPAC.