5-[Hydroxy(aryl/alkylamino)methylene]-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-diones react with BF3•Et2O in mild conditions leading to the formation of boron difluoride complexes of carbamoyl Meldrum's acids. The X-ray structure has been obtained for one representative complex. The obtained new compounds are fairly stable at standard ambient conditions and easily isolable.

The concept of nonmetallic frustrated cations has been used in small molecule activation. The in situ generated ambiphilic phosphinoborinium cation activated phenyl isocyanate, diisopropylcarbodiimide, and acetonitrile under very mild conditions without any catalyst, yielding single-, double-, or mixed-activation products. Furthermore, the mechanisms of the reactions of the phosphinoborinium cation with small molecules were elucidated...

Phosphinoborenium cations stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) were synthesized via the reaction of bromo(phosphino)boranes with NHCs. Their structures were investigated by heteronuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and density functional theory calculations. They possess a planar trigonal boron center directly bonded with the pyramidal phosphanyl group (PR2) and can be treated as cationic phosphinoboranes....

Herein, we present the synthesis of the first fully characterized monomeric triphosphinoboranes. The simple reaction of boron tribromide with three equivalents of bulky lithium phosphide tBu2PLi yielded triphosphinoborane (tBu2P)3B. Triphosphinoboranes with diversified phosphanyl substituents were obtained via a two-step reaction, in which isolable bromodiphosphinoborane (tBu2P)2BBr is first formed and then reacts with one equivalent...