The impact of Lewis acid variation on reactions with di-tert-butyl diazo diesters

Reactions of (tBuO(2)CN)(2) with Lewis acids and FLPs have previously been shown to prompt the formation of diazene compounds. In this work, we show that the reaction of (tBuO(2)CN)(2) with 9-BBN leads to a bicyclic heterocyclic product (tBuOCO(BBN)CN)(2) 1. In contrast, the reactions of (tBuO(2)CN)(2) with BF3 or [Et3Si][B(C6F5)(4)] lead to the isolation of [tBuNHNH(2)tBu][BF4] 2 and [tBuN(H)NtBu][B(C6F5)(4)] 3, respectively. The mechanism for the formation of 2 is probed computationally, demonstrating that steric and electronic considerations of the Lewis acid impact the reaction pathway.

Automated summary

The reaction of (tBuO(2)CN)(2) with 9-BBN leads to the formation of a bicyclic heterocyclic compound, while its reactions with BF3 or [Et3Si][B(C6F5)(4)] result in the isolation of different compounds. Computational studies reveal that the steric and electronic properties of the Lewis acid are important in the formation of one of the compounds.