New Developments in Base Metal-Catalyzed C-H Borylation

The catalytic functionalization of carbon-hydrogen bonds to form carbon-boron bonds is an emerging field in organometallic chemistry. Substrates containing carbon-boron bonds play a pivotal role in synthesis due to their use as coupling partners in Suzuki-Miyaura reactions, which can build complex products from very simple building blocks. Current methods for the synthesis of carbon-boron bonds often use precious metal catalysts (e.g. Ir, Ru, Rh), but have significant draw backs including pricing, toxicity, and limited abundance. There has been a drive to move towards more sustainable and green catalysis using base metals (e.g. Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn). Base metals offer a less costly, less toxic, and an environmentally friendly alternative compared to precious metals. Our goal was to develop new base metal catalysts from readily available building blocks and earth-abundant metals to mimic, replace, and outcompete current precious metal catalysts. We demonstrate in this thesis the development of new base metal catalysts used for the catalytic synthesis of carbon-boron bonds through base metal-catalyzed C-H borylation.