Synthesis of a boronic acid anhydride based ligand and its application in beryllium coordination

Abstract

The synthesis of a boronic acid anhydride‐based ligand containing one three‐ and one four‐coordinated boron atom is presented. This ligand was successfully employed as a tridentate κ¹N,κ²O‐ligand in the coordination of beryllium chloride and both the ligand and the resulting complex have been structurally characterized. While the boron‐element separations are within the typical range of related homo‐nuclear compounds, the corresponding beryllium‐element distances are rather long, suggesting unexpectedly high electron density at the beryllium center. Incorporation of a beryllium atom in a six‐membered ring causes no more distortion than the corresponding boron atom, suggesting that analogous ligand systems could be used in boron and beryllium coordination chemistry. The generated hetero‐tri‐nuclear complex enables the direct comparison of bond lengths and angles at beryllium and boron atoms in similar coordination environments and can act as a monomolecular model for beryllium borates.