Intramolecular cooperativity in frustrated Lewis pairs†
Abstract
The doubly Lewis-acid functionalised aniline PhN[(CH2)3B(C6F5)2]2 features two competing boron functions in fast exchange for binding to the central Lewis base. It shows catalytic activity typical for FLPs in H/D-scrambling and catalytic hydrogenation experiments. By contrast, the singly acid-functionalised PhMeN(CH2)3B(C6F5)2 reveals a dramatically smaller catalytic activity in analogous experiments.