Manganese(I)-catalyzed dehydrogenative borylation of terminal alkynes

Dalton Trans. 2025 Jul 1;54(26):10426-10432. doi: 10.1039/d5dt00577a.

Abstract

Compounds containing carbon-boron bonds serve as valuable intermediates for constructing more complex molecules by transforming these bonds into other carbon-element bonds. The catalytic dehydrogenative borylation of carbon-hydrogen bonds using HBpin presents an appealing method for synthesizing carbon-boron bonds. While this approach has been extensively explored with noble metals for various types of carbon-hydrogen bonds, its application with manganese-based catalysts remains rare. This study explores a dehydrogenative borylation process employing an Earth-abundant transition metal catalyst, FcbpyMn(CO)3Br (Mn(I)), in combination with HBpin under mild conditions. Arylalkynes featuring electron-withdrawing, electron-donating, and heteroaryl substituents yielded good to excellent results. Thorough DFT calculations were performed to understand the mechanism.