Relative strength of BF3 and BCl3 as Lewis acids

A Selenenium-Bridged 10-Boratriptycene Lewis Acid

A non-planar triarylborane and a new member of the boratriptycene family bearing a selenium atom in bridgehead position of triptycene scaffold was generated and isolated as a boron-‘ate’ complex paired with a weakly coordinating anion. With similar electronegativity while possessing longer atom radius with respect to sulfur, the introduction a selenium atom, in the form of a selenenium moiety, at the bridgehead of a triptycene scaffold allows a very precise modification of the pyramidalization of the boron atom environment. Experimental and computational evaluation of the Lewis acidity of this new boratriptycene derivative gave qualitative information on how a modification of the pyramidalization of the boron environment affects alone Lewis acidity parameters of such pyramidal triarylborane.

The vibrational spectra of the boron halides and their molecular complexes Part 10. The complexes of boron trifluoride with ammonia and its methyl derivatives. An ab initio study

Ab initio calculations, at the level of second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory, and using a triple-zeta Gaussian basis set with polarization and diffuse functions on all atoms, have been carried out on the donor-acceptor complexes of boron trifluoride with ammonia and its mono-, di- and trimethyl derivatives. The structures, interaction energies and vibrational spectra of the complexes have been determined. An eclipsed and a staggered conformer have been examined for each complex, and the preferred conformer was found to be the staggered species in each case. The computed data have been compared with those for some similar complexes containing boron trifluoride and a series of oxygen and sulphur electron donors (water, hydrogen sulphide, methanol, methanethiol, dimethyl ether and dimethyl sulphide) and the effect of successive methyl substitution in all three series has been investigated.

Hydride Affinities of Borane Derivatives: Novel Approach in Determining the Origin of Lewis Acidity Based on Triadic Formula

The problem of intrinsic Lewis acidities of simple boron compounds (BH3-mXm, m = 0-3, X = F, Cl, Br, CH3, and OH) is assessed by their gas-phase hydride affinities (HAs). A simple and intuitively appealing picture of the interaction process including detachment of an electron from the hydride ion H-, capture of the pruned electron to the investigated Lewis acid (LA), and subsequent formation of the homolytic chemical bond between two newly created radicals is proposed. It enables transparent and straightforward dissection of the initial and final state effects, which taken together with the intermediate relaxation stabilization determine the trend of changes in the hydride affinities. The former effect is reflected in the electron affinities of the neutral Lewis acids given within Koopmans' approximation, while the final state effect involves properties of the formed Lewis acid-base adducts mirrored in the bond dissociation energy of the formed [LA-H]- chemical bond. It is demonstrated that unexpectedly low Lewis acidity of fluoroboranes relative to the corresponding chlorine and bromine derivatives can be traced down to the unfavorable Koopmans' electron affinities. Hence, it is a consequence of the initial state effect. In contrast, chloroboranes are more potent Lewis acids than fluoroboranes, because the relaxation and final state effects decisively influence their Lewis acidity. Finally, bromine-substituted borane compounds provide the most powerful studied Lewis acids. Their hydride affinities are result of a synergic interplay of the initial state, intermediate stabilization via relaxation, and final state effects. It is shown that Pearson's global hardness indices defined within his hard and soft acid-base (HSAB) principle fail to adequately predict and interpret the calculated hydride affinities.

Lewis acidity of gallium halides

The Lewis acidity of GaF(3), GaF(2)Cl, GaFCl(2), and GaCl(3) in acid-base interactions has been studied by taking ammonia as their electron-donating counterpart. We have derived an unoccupied reactive orbital that shows the maximum localization on the Ga atomic center for each species. The orbital is located lower in energy compared to those in the corresponding boron and aluminum halides. In contrast to boron halides, the unoccupied reactive orbital of the acid site tends to be delocalized considerably on the halogens as the fluorines are substituted by chlorines in gallium halides. The trend observed in the effects of fluorine and chlorine on the acidity of the gallium halides is opposite to those found in the boron halides. This cannot be interpreted solely in terms of the electron-accepting strength of the gallium center, but can be understood by including electrostatic interactions and closed-shell repulsion with ammonia in the adducts. The origin of the difference in Lewis acidity of BCl(3), AlCl(3), and GaCl(3) has been clarified.