Reaction of pentaarylboroles with carbon monoxide: an isolable organoboron carbonyl complex

Abstract

The highly Lewis acidic perfluoropentaphenylborole forms a stable, isolable adduct with the weak Lewis base carbon monoxide. A similar adduct with the unfluorinated borole is observed at low temperature, but this adduct undergoes reaction involving insertion into the B–C bonds due to the greater nucleophilicity of the α-carbons. Together these observations provide concrete chemical evidence for long held presumptions regarding the observed reactivity of organoboranes with carbon monoxide.