Hydrogen and Amine Activation by a Frustrated Lewis Pair of a Bulky N‐Heterocyclic Carbene and B(C₆F₅)₃

Abstract

Size matters: The frustrated Lewis pair derived from B(C6F5)3 and the sterically encumbered N-heterocyclic carbene N,N′-tBu2C3H2N2 (1) cleaves dihydrogen heterolytically to give a imidazolium borate (see scheme, left), and cleaves amine NH bonds to form aminoborate salts (right) or aminoboranes.