Boron trifluoride bonding

Figure 5.19. Illustration of the formation of a donor-acceptor complex by the sequential adsorption of trimethylamine and boron trifluoride. The Lewis-basic trimethylamine forms a dative bond with the electrophilic Si dimer atom, and the Lewis-acidic boron trifluoride bonds to the nucleophilic Si dimer atom [278].

The covalently bonded oxygen atom still has two lone pairs of electrons and can act as an electron pair donor. It rarely donates both pairs (to achieve 4-coordination) and usually only one donor bond is formed. A water molecule, for example, can donate to a proton, forming H30, and diethyl ether can donate to an acceptor such as boron trifluoride ... 

Boron trifluoride (BF3) F 20. B- F F Boron has three bonded pairs Trigonal planar Trigonal planar ... 

Boron trifluoride is a trigonal planar molecule There are six electrons two for each B—F bond associated with the valence shell of boron These three bonded pairs are farthest apart when they are coplanar with F—B—F bond angles of 120°... 

Fluorochloro, fluorobromo, and fluoroiodoalkanes react selectively with aromatics under boron trifluoride catalysis to provide chloro-, bromo- and iodoalkylated products (48). The higher reactivity of the C—F bond over C—Cl, C—Br, and C—I bonds under Lewis acid catalysis results in the observed products. 

The third main type of bond is the co-ordinate bond, in which both of the shared electrons come from one atom. Examples of interest in polymer science are the addition compounds of boron trifluoride Figure 5.3). 

The successful labeling of the elusive 14a-position in cholestane represents a very important application of this reaction.It is known that hydroboration of the double bond in 5of-cholest-14-ene (174) occurs on the a-side. Consequently, by using deuteriodiborane (generated by the reaction of boron trifluoride etherate with lithium aluminum deuteride) and then propionic acid for hydrolysis of the alkylborane intermediate, 14a-d,-5a-cholestane (175) is obtained in 90% isotopic purity. This method also provides a facile route to the C-15 labeled analog (176) when the alkylborane derived from 5a-cholest-14-ene is hydrolyzed with propionic acid-OD. ... 

Thioketals are readily formed by acid-catalyzed reaction with ethane-dithiol. Selective thioketal formation is achieved at C-3 in the presence of a 6-ketone by carrying out the boron trifluoride catalyzed reaction in diluted medium. Selective protection of the 3-carbonyl group as a thioketal has been effected in high yield with A" -3,17-diketones, A" -3,20-diketones and A" -3,l 1,17-triones in acetic acid at room temperature in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid. In the case of thioketals the double bond remains in the 4,5-position. This result is attributed to the greater nucleophilicity of sulfur as compared to oxygen, which promotes closure of intermediate (66) to the protonated cyclic mercaptal (67) rather than elimination to the 3,5-diene [cf. ketal (70) via intermediates (68) and (69)]." " ... 

In another approach to analogs, nortestosterone is first converted to the thioketal by treatment with ethylene dithiol in IUe presence of boron trifluoride. (The mild conditions of this reaction compared to those usually employed in preparing the oxygen ketals probably accounts for the double bond remaining at 4,5.) Treatment of this derivative with sodium in liquid ammonia... 

In contrast, C,V-diphenylnitrone in the presence of boron trifluoride-diethyl ether gives 35 by cycloaddition at the 3,4-bond of the tautomer 34.305... 

In contrast to this generally high preference for. tyn-products for boron trifluoride mediated reactions between 3-a//c v/-Substituted allylstannanes and aldehydes, //-products are preferred for reactions involving 3-p/ cn>7-substituted allylstannanes. This stereoselectivity was observed for a range of aldehydes, and was explained in terms of the increased propensity for the tin-allylie carbon bond to be polarized when the -substituent is able to stabilize a positive charge so favoring a cyclic transition state73. 

The boron atom in BF5 can complete its octet if an additional atom or ion with a lone pair of electrons forms a bond by providing both electrons. A bond in which both electrons come from one of the atoms is called a coordinate covalent bond. For example, the tetrafluoroborate anion, BF4 (31), forms when boron trifluoride is passed over a meral fluoride. In this anion, the formation of a coordinate covalent bond with a fluoride ion gives the B atom an octet. Another example of a coordinate covalent bond is that formed when boron trifluoride reacts with ammonia ... 

C21-0097. Construct a table of bond lengths that supports the existence of 7r bonding in boron trifluoride and boric acid. The relevant data can be found in the text. Label your table thoroughly. 

Figure 1.35 The triangular (trigonal planar) shape of boron trifluoride maximally separates the three bonding pairs.

In contrast, when boron trifluoride etherate is substituted for the free boron trifluoride, only a trace of the hydrocarbon is formed, even after weeks of reaction.143 The unique effectiveness of boron trifluoride gas in promoting these reductions is believed to be due to several factors, including the ability of the coordinatively unsaturated boron center to rapidly and tightly coordinate with oxygen centers and to the thermodynamically favorable creation of a Si-F bond.1 A slight pressure of boron trifluoride gas must be maintained over the surface of the solution throughout the reaction because boron trifluoride has only limited solubility in the weakly coordinating dichloromethane solvent. 

Highly diasteroselective and chemoselective reductions may be performed on the hydroxy functions of (r/6-arene)-tricarbonylchromium complexes. Treatment of the chromium-complexed benzylic alcohol 29 with triethylsilane and boron trifluoride etherate in dichloromethane at —78° to 0° gives only diastereomer 30 in 75% yield (Eq. 40).181 In a similar fashion, treatment of the complexed exo-allyl-endo-benzylic alcohol 31 with an excess of Et3SiH/TFA in dichloromethane at room temperature under nitrogen produces only the endo-aflyl product 32 in 92% yield after 1.5 hours (Eq. 41). It is noteworthy that no reduction of the isolated double bond occurs.182... 

Treatment of a pentacyclic la, I I -(2-oxethano) thioketal steroid with excess Et3SiH/TFA causes reduction of the carbon-carbon double bonds as well as the 17-carbonyl group to give a single reaction product (Eq. 213).368 Other work utilizes trifluoroacetic acid, triethylsilane, and anisole in the presence of a catalytic amount of boron trifluoride etherate to reduce the acetyl carbonyl of a 3-acetyl-2-azetidinone derivative with a dr of 8 1 (Eq. 214).395... 

The cobalt(I) complex CoBr(PPh3)3 as a boron trifluoride etherate selectively hydrogenates conjugated dienes to monoenes via an unusual 1,2-hydrogen addition at the more-substituted double bond (186). 

Two structures are possible for the interaction of aromatic hydrocarbons with acids.270 In the a-structures a covalent bond is established between the acidic reagent and a particular carbon atom of the benzene ring. The a-structures are essentially classical carbonium ions. In the -structures a non-classical bond is established, not to any particular atom, but to the -electron cloud in general. It is quite likely that both types of structure are represented by actual examples. Thus m-xylene interacts more strongly with hydrogen chloride than does o-xylene, but the difference between the two hydrocarbons is much more pronounced when their interactions with a boron trifluoride-hydrogen fluoride mixture are compared. This is readily understandable... 

---