Highly Electron-Deficient Dicyanomethylene-Functionalized Triarylboranes with Low-Lying LUMO and Strong Lewis Acidity.

A series of dicyanomethylene-functionalized triarylboranes is reported in this work, with low-lying LUMO energy levels at ca. -3.66 eV for FMesB-ACN. The single-crystal structures of the mono- and dianion of Mes*B-ACN were obtained via chemical reduction, which revealed a conversion from a quinoidal to an aromatic structure. The strong Lewis acidity of these compounds is reflected in a fluoride-anion binding experiment. This work introduces a facile strategy for modulating the electron deficiency of boron-containing compounds.