Homoleptic Zinc-Catalyzed Hydroboration of Aldehydes and Ketones in the Presence of HBpin

Here, we report the reaction between N-phenyl-o-phenylenediamine and pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde to afford the N-phenyl-o-phenyl-enediiminopyrrole ligand {L-H2} in quantitative yield. A one-pot reaction between {L-H2} and diethylzinc (ZnEt2) in a 2:1 ratio afforded the homoleptic zinc metal complex [{L-H}(2)Zn] (1). The solid-state structures of ligand {L-H2} and zinc complex 1 were confirmed using X-ray crystallography. Further, complex 1 was used for chemoselective hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones in the presence of pinacolborane (HBpin) at ambient temperature to produce the corresponding boronate esters in high yield.