Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: Efficient cleavage of sterically hindered boronic esters of asymmetric diols to recover both the diol and a more reactive borane derivative has been a challenging problem. A remarkable borosilicate glass-catalyzed cleavage with thionyl chloride and imidazole proved less useful than hoped for. Potassium bifluoride converts boronic esters to diols and alkyltrifluoroborates. These with chlorosilanes yield alkyldifluoroboranes, which with alkyl azides form secondary amines in high enantiopurity.