Bis(tetrafluorophenyl)borane

Abstract

The reaction of the Grignard reagent (p-C₆F₄H)MgBr with Me₂SnCl₂ afforded the p-C₆F₄H transfer reagent Me₂Sn(p-C₆F₄H)₂ (1). Subsequent reaction of 1 with BCl₃ led to the chloroborane (p-C₆F₄H)₂BCl (2), which was converted to the borane [(p-C₆F₄H)₂BH]₂ (3) by treatment with the hydride source Me₂SiHCl. By reaction of tetrafluoropyridine with i-PrMgCl followed by the in situ reaction with Me₂SnCl₂, the stannane Me₂Sn(C₅F₄N)₂ (4) could be obtained. However, this did not react with BCl₃. The resulting products were characterized by elemental analyses and NMR spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments were performed for compounds 1, 2 and 4. The crystal structure of the literature known compound Me₂Sn(C₆F₅)₂ (5) was determined and compared with structures of 1 and 4.