Oxoborane Formation Turns on Formazanate-Based Photoluminescence |
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Authors: | Ryan R. Maar Nicholas A. Hoffman Prof. Dr. Viktor N. Staroverov Prof. Dr. Joe B. Gilroy |
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Affiliation: | Department of Chemistry and The Centre for Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7 Canada |
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Abstract: | The synthesis of compounds containing multiple bonds to boron has challenged main-group chemists for decades. Despite significant progress, the possibility that the formation of such bonds can turn on photoluminescence has received minimal attention. We report an oxoborane (B=O) complex that is electronically stabilized by a formazanate ligand in the absence of significant steric bulk and, unlike the common BX2 (X=F, Cl) formazanate adducts, exhibits intense photoluminescence. The latter property was rationalized through density-functional calculations which indicated that the B=O bond enhances photoluminescence by drastically reducing differences between the ligand's geometries in the ground and excited states. The title oxoborane compound was synthesized from an air- and moisture-stable BCl2 formazanate complex and subsequently converted to a redox-active boroxine. Each of these species may also serve as a precursor to functional materials. |
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Keywords: | boron multiple bonds formazanate ligands oxoboranes turn-on photoluminescence X-ray crystallography |
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