title: Borane reaction chemistry. Alkyne insertion reactions into boron-containing clusters. Products from the thermolysis of [6,9-(2-HC[triple bond]C-C5H4N)2-arachno-B10H12].
abstract: The stirring of [ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] with [nido-B(10)H(14)] in benzene affords [6,9-{ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N}(2)-arachno-B(10)H(12)] 1 in 93% yield. In the solid state, 1 has an extended complex three-dimensional structure involving intramolecular dihydrogen bonding, which accounts for its low solubility. Thermolysis of 1 gives the known [1-(ortho-C(5)H(4)N)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(11)] 2 (13%), together with new [micro-5(N),6(C)-(NC(5)H(4)-ortho-CH(2))-nido-6-CB(9)H(10)] 3 (0.4%), [micro-7(C),8(N)-(NC(5)H(4)-ortho-CH(2))-nido-7-CB(10)H(11)] (0.4%) , 4 binuclear [endo-6'-(closo-1,2-C(2)B(10)H(10))-micro-(1(C),exo-6'(N))-(ortho-C(5)H(4)N)-micro-(exo-8'(C),exo-9'(N))-(ortho-(CH(2)CH(2))-C(5)H(4)N)-arachno-B(10)H(10)] (0.5%) 5, and [exo-6(C)-endo-6(N)-(ortho-(CH[double bond]CH)-C(5)H(4)N)-exo-9(N)-(ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N)-arachno-B(10)H(11)] 6. An improved solvent-free route to 2 is also presented. This set of compounds features an increasing cluster incorporation of the ethynyl moiety, initially by an effective internal hydroboration, affording an arachno to nido and then a nido to arachno:closo sequence of cluster geometry. An alternative low-temperature route to internal hydroboration is demonstrated in the room temperature reaction of [closo-B(11)H(11)][N(n)Bu(4)](2) with CF(3)COOH and [ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N], which gives [micro-1(C),2(B)-[ortho-C(5)H(4)N-CH(2)]-closo-1-CB(11)H(10)] 7 (40%) in which one carbon atom is incorporated into the cluster; a similar reaction with [ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] affords [N(n)Bu(4)][7-(ortho-N[triple bond]C-C(5)H(4)N)-nido-B(11)H(12)], 8 (68%) and stirring [ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] with [nido-B(10)H(14)] quantitatively affords the cyano analogue of 1, [6,9-{ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N}(2)-arachno-B(10)H(12)] 9. All compounds were characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and NMR spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: The School of Chemistry of the University of Leeds, Leeds, UK LS2 9JT.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bould
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laromaine
authors.forename: Neil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Bullen
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Viñas
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thornton-Pett
authors.forename: Reijo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sillanpää
authors.forename: Raikko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kivekäs
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teixidor