The Catalytic Dehydrocoupling of Amine–Boranes and Phosphine–Boranes

Mechanistic studies into the catalysed dehydrocoupling of amine–boranes and phosphine–boranes have seen a rapid development over the last 5 years. The primary driver for this intense research effort has been the development of catalysts that might offer significant benefits with regard to the kinetics of hydrogen release, for potential use when linked with a fuel cell. Secondary to this, although becoming increasingly important, is the use of dehydrocoupling approaches to afford well-defined polymeric materials with B–N or B–P backbones that offer potential as high-performance polymers, as pre-ceramic materials and as precursors to white graphene. There have been many systems studied using catalysts incorporating metals from across the periodic table. This review attempts to bring together the insight revealed from these studies, which shows a rich and complex mechanistic landscape for the dehydrocoupling of phosphine–boranes and amine–boranes.