frustrated Lewis pairs

Predicting Dinitrogen Activation by Carborane-Based Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Activation of atmospherically abundant dinitrogen (N2) under mild conditions has been a great challenge in chemistry for decades because of the significantly strong N≡N triple bond. The traditional strategy of N2 activation was mainly limited to metallic species until the ground-breaking achievement of N2 activation by two-coordinated borylenes was achieved experimentally in 2018. On the other hand, carborane derivatives have attracted considerable interest for small-molecule activation. Still, the utilization of carborane derivatives in N2 activation remains elusive.

Systematic Design of a Frustrated Lewis Pair Containing Methyleneborane and Carbene for Dinitrogen Activation

Activation of atmospherically abundant dinitrogen (N2) by metal-free species under mild reaction conditions has been one of the most challenging areas in chemistry for decades. Very recent but limited progress in N2 activation by boron species, including two-coordinated borylene and methyleneborane and three-coordinated borole and borane, has been made toward metal-free N2 activation.

An Unprecedented Ga/P Frustrated Lewis Pair: Synthesis, Characterization, and Reactivity

Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) represent a new paradigm of main‐group chemistry. The Lewis acidic centers in FLP chemistry are typically B and Al atoms in the studies reported over the past decade, and most of them are tri‐coordinated with strong electron‐withdrawing groups. Herein, we report a Ga/P system containing an unprecedented four‐coordinated Lewis acidic Ga center. This Ga/P species performs classical addition reactions toward heterocumulenes, alkyne, diazomethane, and transition metal complex. Regioselective formation of the products can be rationalized by DFT calculations.

Mechanistic Insight into the CO2 Capture by Amidophosphoranes: Interplay of the Ring Strain and the trans Influence Determines the Reactivity of the Frustrated Lewis Pairs

CO2 capture has attracted increasing attention owing to its contribution to global warming and climate change as a greenhouse gas. As an alternative strategy to transition-metal-based chemistry and catalysis, frustrated Lewis pairs have been developed to sequester CO2 efficiently under mild conditions. However, the mechanism of CO2 sequestration with amidophosphoranes remains unclear. Herein, we present a thorough density functional theory study on a series of amidophosphoranes.