Polyborane reactions in ionic liquids*
Yuqi Li, Upal Kusari, Patrick J. Carroll, Mark G. Bradley, and Larry G. Sneddon
Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,PA 19104-6323, USA
Abstract: In contrast to reactions that have been observed in traditional organic solvents, decaborane olefin-hydroboration and alkyne-insertion reactions proceed in ionic liquid (IL) solvents without the need of a catalyst. These reactions now provide important new, high-yield synthetic pathways to functionalized decaborane and ortho-carborane clusters. As illustrated by the synthesis of n-B18H22, ILs can also provide an inert reaction medium for carrying out dehydrocondensation reactions leading to higher fused cage compounds.
Keywords: ionic liquids; decaborane; o-carborane; octadecaborane; hydroboration; alkyne insertion.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 12th International Meeting on Boron Chemistry (IMEBORON-XII), Sendai, Japan, 11-15 September 2005. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1299-1453.