FROM BORIC ACID TO ORGANOMETALLICS: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN METALLACARBORANE CHEMISTRY

ABSTRACT

An overview of the chemistry of polyhedral metallacarboranes, concentrating mainly on the C _(cage)-trimethylsilyl-substituted C₂B₄-carboranes will be discussed. While the main thrust of this account is on the results obtained in authors’ laboratories, comparisons will be made to similar systems and to those involving both large and small cage carboranes in order to provide a full picture of the chemistry of these systems. In this way, we hope to demonstrate the unique chemistry of the small, C₂B₄-cage systems that has emerged over the past few years and provide an overview of the most recent results involving the chemistry of small-cage heterocarboranes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (CHE-0241319), the donors of the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, The Robert A. Welch Foundation (N-1322 to JAM), and Northern Illinois University through a Presidential Research Professorship. N.S.H. gratefully acknowledges the Forschungspreis der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the Gauss Professorship of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. The perseverance of numerous undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral associates, visiting scholars and other co-workers in many of these studies is gratefully acknowledged.