Dioxygen Reactivity with a Ferrocene-Lewis Acid Pairing: Reduction to a Boron Peroxide in the Presence of Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane

Ferrocenes, which are typically air-stable outer-sphere single-electron transfer reagents, were found to react with dioxygen in the presence of B(C6F5)(3), a Lewis acid unreactive to O-2, to generate bis(borane) peroxide. Although several Group 13 peroxides have been reported, boron-supported peroxides are rare, with no structurally characterized examples of the BO2B moiety. The synthesis of a bis(borane)supported peroxide anion and its structural and electrochemical characterization are described.