Kinetic studies of the interaction of borane–amines with alkoxyl radicals and ketone triplets: relevance to polarity reversal catalysis

There is a growing body of research on ligated boranes; however, there is very limited kinetic data on their reactivity. In this study, we measured several rate constants for the reaction of borane-tert-butylamine with species such as alkoxyl radicals and several ketone triplet states. Furthermore, we investigated the hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) efficiency for the triplet states examined. We also present the transient spectrum that confirms the formation of the corresponding amine–boryl radical. Finally, by using dicumyl peroxide, we investigated the possibility of a chain reaction involving the decomposition of both borane–amine and peroxide; however, the quantum yield, while high, cannot confirm this hypothesis.