How Frustrated Lewis Acid/Base Systems Pass through Transition‐State Regions: H2 Cleavage by [tBu3P/B(C6F5)3]

We investigate the transition‐state (TS) region of the potential energy surface (PES) of the reaction tBu₃P+H₂+B(C₆F₅)₃→tBu₃P‐H⁽⁺⁾+^(?)H?B(C₆F₅)₃ and the dynamics of the TS passage at room temperature. Owing to the conformational inertia of the phosphane???borane pocket involving heavy tBu₃P and B(C₆F₅)₃ species and features of the PES E(P???H, B???H | B???P) as a function of P???H, B???H, and B???P distances, a typical reactive scenario for this reaction is a trajectory that is trapped in the TS region for a period of time (about 350 fs on average across all calculated trajectories) in a quasi‐bound state (scattering resonance). The relationship between the timescale of the TS passage and the effective conformational inertia of the phosphane???borane pocket leads to a prediction that isotopically heavier Lewis base/Lewis acid pairs and normal counterparts could give measurably different reaction rates. Herein, the predicted quasi‐bound state could be verified in molecular collision experiments involving femtosecond spectroscopy.