Homoleptic Zinc‐Catalyzed Hydroboration of Aldehydes and Ketones in the Presence of HBpin

Abstract

Here, we report the reaction between N‐phenyl‐o‐phenylenediamine and pyrrole‐2‐carboxaldehyde to afford the N‐phenyl‐o‐phenyl‐enediiminopyrrole ligand {L‐H2} in quantitative yield. A one‐pot reaction between {L‐H2} and diethylzinc (ZnEt2) in a 2:1 ratio afforded the homoleptic zinc metal complex [{L‐H}2Zn] (1). The solid‐state structures of ligand {L‐H2} and zinc complex 1 were confirmed using X‐ray crystallography. Further, complex 1 was used for chemoselective hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones in the presence of pinacolborane (HBpin) at ambient temperature to produce the corresponding boronate esters in high yield.