Aza‐nido‐dodecaboranes and ‐borates from Aza‐closo‐dodecaboranes by the Addition of Neutral or Anionic Bases: Mechanism

The addition of neutral (L = py, NEt₃, NHEt₂, NH₂tBu) and anionic Lewis bases (X^‐ = OH^‐, Br^‐, N₃^‐, Me^‐, NHBu ^‐, NHtBu^‐, [FeCp(CO)₂]^‐) to aza‐closo‐dodecaboranes RNB₁₁H₁₁ ( 1 ) or to derivatives thereof with boron bound non‐hydrogen ligands yields nido‐clusters RNB₁₁H₁₁L or [RNB₁₁H₁₁X]^‐ or derivatives thereof, respectively, the non‐planar pentagonal aperture N—B4—B9—B8—B5 of which hosts a B8—B9 hydrogen bridge. The base is either bound to B8 ( 3 )or B4 ( 5 )or B2( 7 ). The structures of these adducts are concluded from ¹H and ¹¹B NMR including 2D‐NMR spectra, and in the case of MeNB₁₁H₁₁(NHEt₂) (type 3 ) also by a crystal structure analysis. With two of the adducts MeNB₁₁H₁₁L (L = py, NHEt₂), isomers of the type 3 , 5 , and 7 , and with two of the adducts, MeNB₁₁H₁₁(NH₂tBu) and {MeNB₁₁H₁₁[FeCp(CO)₂]}^‐, isomers of the type 3 and 7 could be identified. The position of boron‐bound ligands during the addition of bases to 1 shows, that only vertices of the ortho‐belt of 1 are involved in the opening process. A mechanism is made plausible that starts by the attack of the base at B2 of 1 and opening of the N‐B2 bond, denoted as a [3c, 1c]‐collocation, to give 2 with an endo‐H atom, whose migration into an adjacent bridge position and opening of a second B—N bond, denoted as a [3c, 2c]‐translocation, gives 3 ; this isomer can be transformed into 7 by a sequence of [3c, 2c]‐translocations via the isomers 4 , 5 , and 6 . The chiral type 3 species MeNB₁₁H₁₁L with L = NHEt₂, NH₂tBu undergo a rapid enantiomerization, for whose mechanism the exchange of the bridging and the amine‐H atom has been made plausible.