Desymmetrizing Electron-Deficient Diboranes(4): Diverse Products and Their Reactivity

A comprehensive study of the reactivity of Lewis bases with dihalodiboranes(4) is presented. Diaryldihalodiboranes provide rearranged monoadducts when treated with cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbenes, but halide-bridged adducts when treated with a range of pyridyl bases. Alterna-tively, the combination of diaminodihalodiboranes with strong carbene donors leads to boraborenium salts. The reduction and halide-abstraction reactivity of these adducts was also explored, leading to intramolecular C-H activation and the first 1,2-bis(borenium) dication.