Frustrated Lewis Pair Chemistry: Development and Perspectives

Overview

Journal Angew Chem Int Ed Engl

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2015 May 15

PMID 25974714

Citations 211

Authors

Douglas W Stephan

Gerhard Erker

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) are combinations of Lewis acids and Lewis bases in solution that are deterred from strong adduct formation by steric and/or electronic factors. This opens pathways to novel cooperative reactions with added substrates. Small-molecule binding and activation by FLPs has led to the discovery of a variety of new reactions through unprecedented pathways. Hydrogen activation and subsequent manipulation in metal-free catalytic hydrogenations is a frequently observed feature of many FLPs. The current state of this young but rapidly expanding field is outlined in this Review and the future directions for its broadening sphere of impact are considered.

Citing Articles

Bis(trimethylsilyl)phosphide chemistry: a half-century of advances across the periodic table.

Baldwin J, Mills D Chem Soc Rev. 2025; .

PMID: 40071301 PMC: 11897868. DOI: 10.1039/d4cs01141d.

Metal-ligand cooperativity enables zero-valent metal transfer.

Riu M, Shan J, Houk K, Nava M Chem Sci. 2025; 16(9):3888-3894.

PMID: 39886438 PMC: 11777705. DOI: 10.1039/d4sc07938h.

Facile, Reversible Hydrogen Activation by Low-Coordinate Magnesium Oxide Complexes.

Thompson S, Burnett S, Ferns R, van Mourik T, McKay A, Slawin A J Am Chem Soc. 2025; 147(6):5247-5257.

PMID: 39876046 PMC: 11826877. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c16041.

Synthesis and Characterisation of Phosphino-Aryloxide Rare Earth Complexes.

Alexopoulos E, Liu Y, Bowles A, Reant B, Ortu F Molecules. 2024; 29(23).

PMID: 39683914 PMC: 11643060. DOI: 10.3390/molecules29235757.

B(CF)-Catalyzed Regiodivergent Thioetherifications of Alkenes via Thiiranium Intermediates: Experimental and Computational Insights.

Alotaibi N, Babaahmadi R, Das S, Richards E, Wirth T, Pramanik M Chemistry. 2024; 31(10):e202404236.

PMID: 39652309 PMC: 11833220. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202404236.