Activation of Carbon Dioxide by 9-Carbene-9-borafluorene Monoanion: Carbon Monoxide Releasing Transformation of Trioxaborinanone to Luminescent Dioxaborinanone.

The first structurally characterized example of a trioxaborinanone ( 2 ) is produced by the reaction of a 9-carbene-9-borafluorene monoanion and carbon dioxide. When compound 2 is heated or irradiated with UV light, carbon monoxide (CO) is released, and a luminescent dioxaborinanone ( 3 ) is formed. Notably, carbon monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) are of interest for their ability to deliver a specific amount of CO. Due to the turn-on fluorescence observed as a result of the conversion to 3 , CORM 2 serves as a means to optically observe CO loss "by eye" under thermal or photochemical conditions.