Transition Metal Promoted Reactions of Boron Hydrides

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Boron hydride compounds with cage-like structures are of considerable interest to inorganic chemists because of the unusual chemical bonds which hold them together. These cage compounds and derivatives thereof prepared by the addition of metals or carbon also show promise as precursors for the preparation of a wide variety of new materials, such as thin films and ceramics. Unfortunately, these compounds have been extremely expensive due to the lack of efficient methods of preparation. A major goal of this project is to use metal catalysts in more efficient syntheses of these important compounds. The major focus of this project is the development of new, high yield synthetic routes for the construction of important polyhedral boron compounds. Owing to their unique chemical and physical properties, these types of compounds have been of great academic and industrial interest; however, further research in the area has been seriously inhibited by the lack of general synthetic procedures. In this laboratory the approach to this problem has emphasized the development of transition metal catalysts, similar to those which are now widely employed in organic and organometallic chemistry, to activate polyhedral boron compounds for reaction. Previous work from this laboratory demonstrated that these catalysts can be used to promote a variety of transformations involving boron hydrides and carboranes, including: borane-acetylene additions, borane-olefin coupling, dehydroalkyne insertions, dehydrocondensations and cage-growth reactions. Future work will continue investigations of the scope and mechanisms of these reactions, along with explorations of new types of catalytic reactions.