B-H Activation at a Rhodium(I) Center: Isolation of a Bimetallic Complex Relevant to the Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Dehydrocoupling of Amine-Boranes

摘要

The transition-metal-catalyzed dehydrocoupling of amine-boranes and phosphine-boranes (H3B·EHR2; E = N, P; R = H, alkyl, aryl) to form oligomeric and polymeric materials, with the concomitant release of H2, is attracting considerable attention owing to the control that the metal fragment imposes on the kinetics and product distributions involved in these processes. This has particular relevance to chemical hydrogen storage as a future energy vector and the synthesis of new Group 13/15 polymeric materials that show useful physical and electronic properties.