title: Observation of Spontaneous C=C Bond Breaking in the Reaction between Atomic Boron and Ethylene in Solid Neon.
abstract: A ground-state boron atom inserts into the C=C bond of ethylene to spontaneously form the allene-like compound H2 CBCH2 on annealing in solid neon. This compound can further isomerize to the propyne-like HCBCH3 isomer under UV light excitation. The observation of this unique spontaneous C=C bond insertion reaction is consistent with theoretical predictions that the reaction is thermodynamically exothermic and kinetically facile. This work demonstrates that the stronger C=C bond, rather than the less inert C-H bond, can be broken to form organoboron species from the reaction of a boron atom with ethylene even at cryogenic temperatures.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysts and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Jiwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysts and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.|Department of Applied Chemistry, East China Institute of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330013, China.
authors.forename: Hailu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, East China Institute of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330013, China.
authors.forename: Mingbiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysts and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Mohua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysts and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China. mfzhou@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mingfei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: C=C bond activation; IR spectroscopy; boron; ethylene; matrix isolation