Tom E. Stennett, Arumugam Jayaraman, Tobias Brückner, Lea Schneider and Holger Braunschweig
Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 1335-1341
DOI:
10.1039/C9SC05908C,
Edge Article
Five compounds containing boron–boron multiple bonds are shown to undergo hydrophosphination reactions with diphenylphosphine in the absence of a catalyst. With diborenes, the products obtained are highly dependent on the substitution pattern at the boron atoms, with both 1,1- and 1,2-hydrophosphinations observed. With a symmetrical diboryne, 1,2-hydrophosphination yields a hydro(phosphino)diborene. The different mechanistic pathways for the hydrophosphination of diborenes are rationalised with the aid of density functional theory calculations.