Cleavage of BN triple bonds by main group reagents

Abstract

We report two rare instances of an insertion into the strong (ca. 170 kcal mol⁻¹) BN triple bond of iminoboranes. In the first, a silylene inserts into di-tert-butyliminoborane to form an iminosilane. In the second, the highly crowded iminoborane Ter–NB–TMP (TMP = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl, Ter = 2,6-(diphenylmethyl)-4-tert-butylphenyl) can be forced to react with Pip–CC–Pip (Pip = piperidyl) at 60 °C. The reaction product is the apparent result of Pip–CC insertion into the iminoborane BN bond.