Department of Chemistry Seminar - An Isolable Benzoborirene and the Carborane-based Three-dimensional Analogues

Speaker: Professor Qing YE

Institution: Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

Hosted By: Professor Zhenyang LIN

Abstract

This presentation will begin with an overview of research projects in our research group. These topics will include efforts in synthesis, structure and catalysis in organoboron – transition metal systems. A project on the development of bis(alkynyl)boranes in organometallic chemistry, including a subproject on new synthetic routes to opto- and electro-active BN-9,1-naphthalenes based on metal-mediated cycloaddition reactions will be featured, as well as a program on boronbased super electron donors.

The main topic to be discussed concerns the molecular design based on the two-dimension (2D) and three-dimension (3D) relationship between benzene and o-carborane. Boron-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (BPAHs) such as 9,10-diboraanthracene and (hetero)arene-fused boroles have attracted tremendous interest not only due to their fundamental significance in terms of aromaticity/antiaromaticity and Lewis acidity, but also because of their appealing chemical and
photophysical properties, which stimulates the related investigation on exploiting their potential applications in small molecule activation, homogeneous catalysis, as well as electronic materials and devices. The replacement of the 2D aromatic benzene unit by the 3D aromatic o-carborane unit leads to the carborane-based 3D analogues. Indeed, the incorporation of the o-carborane cluster, known for its high thermal stability, 3D aromaticity, and significant inductive electronwithdrawing effect at the carbon positions, results in a notable difference compared to the 2D parent compounds. The presentation will focus on highlighting the differences in reaction chemistry and the potential future applications of an isolable benzoborirene and its carboranebased 3D analogues.