Carbaboranes as Pharmacophores: Properties, Synthesis, and Application Strategies

Classically closo-carborane anions, particularly [HCB11H11]− and [HCB9H9]−, and their derivatives have primarily been used as weakly coordinating anions to isolate reactive intermediates, platforms for stoichiometric and catalytic functionalization, counteranions for simple Lewis acid catalysis, and components of materials like liquid crystals. The aim of this article is to educate the reader on the contemporary nonclassical applications of these anions. Specifically, this review will cover new directions in main group catalysis utilized to achieve some of the most challenging catalytic reactions such as C–F, C–H, and C–C functionalizations that are difficult or impossible to realize with transition metals. In addition, the review will cover the utilization of the clusters as dianionic C σ-bound ligands for coordination chemistry, ligand substituents for coordination chemistry and advanced catalyst design, and covalently bound spectator substituents to stabilize radicals. Furthermore, their applications a...

Nonclassical Applications of closo-Carborane Anions: From Main Group Chemistry and Catalysis to Energy Storage

Carboranes, a class of carbon-boron molecular clusters, are often viewed as three-dimensional analogues of benzene. They are finding increasing applications as useful functional building blocks in materials science, medicine, organometallic/coordination chemistry and more. Thus, functionalization of carboranes has received considerable attention. In comparison with the weakly acidic cage C-H bonds that can be readily functionalized, selective cage B-H functionalization among ten chemically similar BH vertices in o-carboranes is very challenging. Only in the recent few years, considerable progress has been made in transition metal catalyzed vertex-specific BH functionalization. This review summarizes recent advances in this research area.

Controlled functionalization of o-carborane via transition metal catalyzed B–H activation

1,1′-Bis(ortho-carborane)-based transition metal complexes

A series of asymmetrically substituted sulfonium derivatives of nido-carborane [9-R(Me)S-nido-7,8-C2B9H11] (R = Et, Pr, Bu, Bn, CHCH2, CH2CHCH2, CH2CCH, CHCCH2) were prepared by alkylation of the 9-methylthio-nido-7,8-carborane. The synthesized compounds are the first examples of diastereomers combining nido-carborane and sulfonium chiral centers.

V. A. Brattstev

Papers

The structure of B10C2H12(barene) and its derivatives