Synthesis of Cationic tungsten(VI) species stabilized by cyanoborate anions

Cyanoborate anions, negatively charged B–CN compounds, have been well established as important building blocks in metal organic frameworks, room-temperature ionic liquids (RTIL’s), and part of metal complexes. RTIL are particularly important in green chemistry, because of absence of any toxic vapours, and in photovoltaic cells, to name only a few applications. Certain cationic species, such as WF5+ and BF2+ can only be prepared with stabilizing nitrogen-bases, which coordinate to the cations donating electron density. Furthermore, WOF3+ and MoOF3+ species have not been reported in the literature, but unpublished work has shown that they are assessable using nitrogen bases to stabilize these highly electron-poor cations. Herein, it is proposed to use cyanoborate anions to stabilize BF2+, WF5+, MoOF3+ and WOF3+ centres resulting in unique RTIL’s with large anions. In addition, the resulting compounds’ fluorinating properties would be of interest.

Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Gerken

Student:

Partner:

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health)

University:

University of Lethbridge

Program: