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Bis‐Boron Compounds in Catalysis: Bidentate and Bifunctional Activation
Author(s) -
Schweighauser Luca,
Wegner Hermann A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201602231
Subject(s) - bifunctional , catalysis , lewis acids and bases , chemistry , denticity , dehydrogenation , ammonia borane , borane , reactivity (psychology) , transition metal , combinatorial chemistry , boron , selectivity , organic chemistry , metal , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
The development of metal‐free catalysts as an alternative to the use of transition metals has gained tremendous interest in the past. In catalysis, Lewis acidity is one of the major principles used for the activation of organic compounds. Improving the reactivity and selectivity of Lewis acids by utilizing bidentate interactions was already proposed 50 years ago. Nevertheless, product inhibition due to strong binding has made applications of bidentate Lewis acids challenging for many years. Recently, bis‐boron compounds have been found to be very effective and several applications in Diels–Alder reactions, carbon dioxide reduction, and ammonia‐borane dehydrogenation were reported. All three transformations are enabled by the catalyst at different stages during the course of the reaction. These new and useful examples illustrate the great potential of the concept.