Borenium Ion Catalyzed Hydroboration of Alkenes with N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Boranes

International audienceTreatment of alkenes such as 3-hexene, 3-octene, and 1-cyclohexyl-1-butene with the N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-derived borane 2 and catalytic HNTf2 (Tf = trifluoromethanesulfonyl (CF3SO2)) effects hydroboration at room temperature. With 3-hexene, surprisingly facile migration of the boron atom from C(3) of the hexyl group to C(2) was observed over a time scale of minutes to hours. Oxidative workup gave a mixture of alcohols containing 2-hexanol as the major product. A similar preference for the C(2) alcohol was observed after oxidative workup of the 3-octene and 1-cyclohexyl-1-butene hydroborations. NHC-borenium cations (or functional equivalents) are postulated as the species that accomplish the hydroborations, and the C(2) selective migrations are attributed to the four center interconversion of borenium cations with cationic NHC-borane-olefin pi-complexes