10.1002/anie.202101874
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Scheme 4B). Parallel reactions revealed
a KIE = 5.5,
INSA Rouen Normandie, Labex SynOrg (ANR-11-LABX-0029)
and Innovation Chimie Carnot (I2C). M.Z. thanks the China
Scholarship Council (CSC) for a doctoral fellowship. T.P. thanks
the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) for support and the
Agence National pour la Recherche (ANR-CE07-0004-1) for
funding. M.F. and Y.G. acknowledge NSERC for funding in the
form of a Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2016-06773) and a graduate
scholarship, respectively. We are grateful for technical support
from NanoQAM and to Gaussian and Compute Canada
Rosy Valdez is warmly acknowledged for preliminary
investigations regarding the batch to flow extension of the
reactions. Dr. M. Durandetti is gratefully acknowledged for her
help regarding CV measurements. Dr. T. Gallavardin is gratefully
acknowledged for his help regarding UV/Vis measurements.
demonstrating that the H abstraction after the boryl radical
addition to the alkyne is the rate determining step. The precise
species responsible for the rate limiting H-atom donation to the
carbon-centered radical is still unknown. Using DFT calculations,
we obtained activation energies that were prohibitively high (>25
kcal/mol) for H-atom transfers from several boron candidates,
however, the reaction is thermodynamically favored using borate
A as shown in Scheme 2A. Interestingly, the addition of HOBPin
(2 equiv.) to the reaction media provided a significant increase of
the reaction rate.[20] This result confirms a plausible H abstraction
from a transient boron species formed in the reaction media. Then,
to demonstrate the involvement of a borate intermediate,
reactions were carried out with the preformed K[B2Pin2]OtBu and
K[B2Pin2]OH in the absence of base (eq. 4). Pleasingly, the
hydroborated product was isolated in 39% and 66% yield,
respectively. These results highlight the involvement of the borate
species along with its ability to react under our standard
conditions.
Keywords: Photocatalysis • Copper • Boryl Radical •
Hydroboration • Continuous Flow
Moreover, the analysis of the B2Pin2:KOH mixture (1:1) in MeCN
by cyclic voltammetry showcased an irreversible oxidation wave
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(E1/2 = +0.25 V vs SCE, Scheme 4C).[20] This observation
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most likely includes short lived chain propagation as shown in
Scheme 2A. Nanosecond laser-flash photolysis experiments of
the copper photocatalyst Cu-PC-1 using a 355 nm laser pulse
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In conclusion, we reported herein the unprecedented
photocatalytic hydroboration reactions using B2Pin2 as alternative
to NHC-borane species, by means of original copper
photocatalysts. The reaction was applied to a broad range of
alkynes and alkenes with an excellent functional group tolerance.
The methodology was extended to continuous flow conditions to
allow an easy scale up of the reaction. The mechanism of the
transformation was studied and an oxidation of a transient borate
species was suggested as the key step to form a possible boryl
radical, involved in the hydroboration of the unsaturated C-C bond.
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This work was partially supported by Normandie Université (NU),
the Région Normandie, the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Rouen Normandie (URN),
5
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