A computational investigation of monosubstituted boroxines(RH2B3O3): structure and formation

Abstract

Boroxines have emerged as an important class of compounds with diverse applications in many fields. However, there are limited experimental and/or computational structural and thermal data available for these compounds or for their corresponding boronic acids. In this investigation, we report structural parameters for a variety of aliphatic monosubstituted boroxines (RH2B3O3) and their enthalpies of formation via the dehydration reactions from the boronic acids (R–B(OH)2), i.e., R–B(OH)2 + 2H–B(OH)2 → RH2B3O3 + 3H2O. Equilibrium geometries of all the boronic acids and monosubstituted boroxines involved in this article were obtained using second-order Moller–Plesset perturbation theory with the Dunning–Woon aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets; heats of formation were calculated at the G3 level of theory. The specific substituents, R, include all the second- and third-period hydrides, as well as a selection of electron-donating/electron-withdrawing groups.