Simple and Green Preparation of Tetraalkoxydiborons and Diboron Diolates from Tetrahydroxydiboron.

Tetraalkoxydiborons can be easily prepared by acid-catalyzed reactions of tetrahydroxydiboron or its anhydride with trialkyl orthoformates. Addition of diols to these reaction mixtures afforded diboron diolates in high yield. In both cases, removal of volatile byproducts is all that is required for the isolation of the diboron. These methods constitute a convenient alternative to previous preparations from tetrakis (dimethylamino) diboron and tetrahydroxydiboron.