Boron(8) substituted nitrilium and ammonium derivatives, versatile cobalt bis(1,2-dicarbollide) building blocks for synthetic purposes.
2009
Abstract
The reaction of the cobalt bis(dicarbollide)(1-)(1) ion in the presence of t-butylbromide, acting as a potent Lewis acid activator, leads to the clean substitution of 1 by the N-atom of acetonitrile ( or benzonitrile), thus resulting in the smooth formation of [(8-RCN)-1,2-C2B9H10)(1',2'-C2B9H11)-3,3'Co(III)](0) (R = CH3 or C6H5) (2 and 3). These compounds can serve as versatile precursors for the generation of a variety of other synthetically useful functional groups.
The nitrogen atom of the nitrile C N-bond in 2 and 3 is prone to the facile addition of nucleophiles.