A Zwitterionic Carbanion Frustrated by Boranes – Dihydrogen Cleavage with Weak Lewis Acids via an “Inverse” Frustrated Lewis Pair Approach

The synthesis, structural characterization, and acid–base chemistry of [C(SiMe2OCH2CH2OMe)3]Na (2), a sterically encumbered zwitterionic organosodium compound, is reported. 2 is a strong Bronsted base that forms frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) with a number of boron-containing Lewis acids ranging from weakly Lewis acidic aryl and alkyl boranes to various alkyl borates. These intermolecular FLPs readily cleave H2, which confirms that even poor Lewis acids can engage in FLP-mediated H2 cleavage provided that the present bulky base is of sufficiently high Bronsted basicity.