Multiple metal-bound oligomers from Ir-catalysed dehydropolymerisation of H3B·NH3 as probed by experiment and computation

Abstract

Multiple metal-bound oligomers in the dehydropolymerisation of H₃B·NH₃ have been observed by electrospray-ionisation mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy using the catalytic metal fragment {Ir(PCy₃)₂(H)₂}⁺. A computational study suggests that sterics dictate whether multiple dehydrogenation/B–N coupling of amine-boranes H₃B·NRR'H (R, R′ = Me or H) is observed, and also demonstrates the experimentally observed requirement for additional amine-borane to promote dehydrocoupling.