Skip to main content
An official website of the European UnionAn official EU website
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary

Electrochemical Borylation via Borylene Species: Bridging a Gap in Synthetic Chemistry

Project description

Electrochemistry sparks new frontiers in molecular synthesis

In organic chemistry, carbenes and nitrenes have revolutionised molecular synthesis, simplifying the creation of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and polymers. However, their boron analogues (borylenes) have lagged due to the difficulty in synthesising them. With this in mind, the ERC-funded ElectroBor project aims to change this by using electrochemistry to generate borylenes in a controlled manner. This breakthrough will enhance our understanding of borylene reactivity, leading to innovative borylation techniques. Among these are the synthesis of novel boracycles and the activation of C-C bonds, which promise to streamline the synthesis of functional materials. By leveraging electrochemical methods, ElectroBor is set to unlock new molecular structures and advance chemical synthesis, echoing the transformative impact of carbenes and nitrenes.

Objective

Carbenoids (carbene and nitrene) have revolutionized the field of organic chemistry, reshaping and improving the molecular construction landscape and unveiling previously inaccessible reaction pathways. This chemistry has massively simplified the synthesis of complex molecular structures, such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and polymers. In contrast with the essential role of carbenes and nitrenes, the boron analogue - borylene - has received limited attention in synthetic chemistry. A basic understanding of borylene reactivity has hindered its utilization in organic synthesis, primarily because of its synthetically challenging formation.
This proposal aims to harness electrochemistry as a novel synthetic approach for the controlled generation of borylenes. This chemoselective platform will determine the critical factors that influence the reactivity of borylene intermediates and will enable the use of new borylation techniques previously out of reach of chemists. Having successfully demonstrated the first example of electrochemical borylene formation, we anticipate the emergence of various novel borylation techniques, among others, (i) the synthesis of underexplored strained three-membered boracycles by cycloaddition reactivity, unlocking access to novel classes of molecules, and (ii) the activation of ubiquitous bonds through boron insertion into C-C, which will utilize unprecedented retrosynthetic logic for ring expansion and 1,n-substituted chemical motifs, thus shortening the synthetic scheme of functional materials.
Drawing inspiration from the remarkable impact of carbenoids across a multitude of chemistry domains, we envision that the electrosynthesis of borylenes will empower chemists to employ these reactive species to unlock access to entirely underexplored classes of molecules and will provide profound insights into borylene reactivity, consequently charting a captivating course towards undiscovered realms in chemical synthesis.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Host institution

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Net EU contribution
€ 1 499 643,00
Address
HERZL STREET 234
7610001 Rehovot
Israel

See on map

Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 1 499 643,00

Beneficiaries (1)