ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Frustrated Lewis pairs: encounter complexes in an ionic liquid

Abstract: Frustrated Lewis Pairs (FLPs) are combinations of bulky Lewis acids and bases, which cannot form acid-base complexes due to steric hindrance. They are capable of metal-free H2 activation, by H2 interacting with an "encounter complex" - a transient association of a Lewis acid and base. In benzene, encounter complexes are impossible to detect by simple NMR studies, but were detected by neutron scattering on SANDALS, combined with modelling and structure refinement with EPSR, as reported by our group (L. C. Brown, et al., Chem Commun, 2018, 54, 8689). We found that ionic liquids may stabilise encounter complexes, increasing their lifetime and concentration compared to benzene. Here, we study a phosphine/borane FLP in an ionic liquid, aiming to probe the encounter complex structure, compare it to that in benzene, and use this knowledge to optimise a system for metal-free hydrogenations.

Principal Investigator: Professor Gosia Swadzba-Kwasny
Local Contact: Dr Sabrina Gaertner
Experimenter: Miss Emily Byrne
Experimenter: Mr Martin Gillespie
Experimenter: Miss Anne McGrogan
Experimenter: Dr Leila Moura
Experimenter: Professor John Holbrey
Experimenter: Miss Lucy Brown
Local Contact: Dr Silvia Imberti
Local Contact: Dr Tristan Youngs
Local Contact: Dr Oliver Alderman

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910531

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1910531

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Gosia Swadzba-Kwasny et al; (2019): Frustrated Lewis pairs: encounter complexes in an ionic liquid, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910531

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.