Borametallacycles: Confluence of Metallacycle and Boracycle Chemistries

Metallacycles - cyclic structures constructed from a transition metal and the first row elements carbon, nitrogen and oxygen underpin numerous technological applications in catalysis and value-added materials chemistry. Boron, the first row element conspicuously absent from this class of compound (borometallacycles) offers features and bonding scenarios quite distinct from these other elements. There is no reason for this omission other than history: Transition metal-boron chemistry is simply an immature field. A handful of scattered borometallacycles have emerged serendipitously over the years with no attempt to systematically develop their synthesis and reactivity or exploit their electro-optical potential. These will now be addressed.