Selective hydroboration of unsaturated bonds by an easily accessible heterotopic cobalt catalyst

作者：Chuhan Li, Shuo Song, Yuling Li, Chang Xu, Qiquan Luo, Yinlong Guo, Xiaoming Wang · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-021-24117-5 · 被引用次数：54 · 研究领域：Organoboron and organosilicon chemistry、Asymmetric Hydrogenation and Catalysis、Catalytic Cross-Coupling Reactions

Homogeneous earth-abundant metal catalysis based on well-defined molecular complexes has achieved great advance in synthetic methodologies. However, sophisticated ligand, hazardous activator and multistep synthesis starting from base metal salts are generally required for the generation of active molecular catalysts, which may hinder their broad application in large scale organic synthesis. Therefore, the development of metal cluster catalysts formed in situ from simple earth-abundant metal salts is of importance for the practical utilization of base metal resource, yet it is still in its infancy. Herein, a mixture of catalytic amounts of cobalt (II) iodide and potassium tert-butoxide is discovered to be highly active for selective hydroboration of vinylarenes and dihydroboration of nitriles, affording a good yield of diversified hydroboration products that without isolation can readily undergo further one pot transformations. It should be highlighted that the alkoxide-pinacolborane combination acts as an efficient activation strategy to activate cobalt (II) iodide for the generation of metastable heterotopic cobalt catalysts in situ, which is proposed to be catalytically active species.