The Dynamic Covalent Chemistry of Amidoboronates: Tuning the rac 5 /rac 6 Ratio via the B-N and B-O Dynamic Covalent Bonds.

Amidoboronates were prepared as a mixture of up to three isomers (rac 5 , meso 5 and rac 6 ) from the reductive coupling of N-aryl iminoboronates with either cobaltocene or decamethylcobaltocene in acetonitrile. The interconversion of rac 5 and rac 6 isomers via rearrangement of their dynamic covalent B-N bonds was investigated in solution by redissolving isolated crystals. The aniline para substituent and catechol within the amidoboronates tuned the rac 5 /rac 6 ratio; the rac 6 isomer predominated for amidoboronates based on pyrocatechol, ranging from a ratio of 0 : 1 with electron-withdrawing Cl substituents to 0.5 : 0.5 for electron-donating NMe 2 substituents. No interconversion was observed for the rac 5 isomers of amidoboronates based on tetrachlorocatechol. Furthermore, the rac 5 /rac 6 distribution was altered by catechol exchange of pyrocatechol for tetrachlorocatechol exploiting the dynamic covalent B-O bonds and the rac 5 isomer was the major isomer following exchange.