Undeniable Confirmation of the syn-Addition Mechanism for Metal-Free Diboration by Using the Crystalline Sponge Method.

The stereochemical outcome of the recently developed metal-free 1,2-diboration of aliphatic alkenes has, until now, only been elucidated by indirect means (e.g. derivatization). This is because classical conformational analysis of the resulting 1,2-diboranes is not viable; in the (1)H NMR spectrum the relevant (1)H resonances are broadened by (11)B, and the occurrence of the products as oily compounds precludes X-ray crystallographic analysis. Herein, the crystalline sponge method is used to display the crystal structures of the diboronic esters formed from internal E and Z olefins, evidencing the stereospecific syn addition mechanism of the reaction, which is fully consistent with the prediction from DFT calculations.