Fig. 1

Borations of alkenes, synthetic methods and applications of 1,1-diborylalkanes. Transition metals catalyzed synthesis of monoboration (e.g., Rh²³, Fe^24,25,26,27, Co^{28, 29}, Ir³⁰, Ru³¹), 1,2-diboration (e.g., Rh^{32, 33}, Pt^34,35,36, Cu³⁷, Ni³⁸, Pd³⁹ and metal-free^{40, 41}) and 1,1,1-triboration¹⁰ of alkenes (a). Construction of chiral molecules utilizing racemic or nonracemic 1,1-diborylalkanes^{11,12,13,14,15, 42, 43} (b). Conversion C–B bonds to C–C bonds to afford complex molecules (c). Transformations of organoboron building blocks into a wide variety of functional groups^{44, 45} (d). Transition metal catalyzed synthesis of 1,1-diborylalkanes from terminal alkenes (e). Previous work was reported for preparation of 1,1-diborylalkanes from 1,1-dihalides^{11, 21, 46}, terminal alkynes^47,48,49, carbene insertion^{50, 51}, hydroboration of borylalkenes^{42, 43} or C-H activation^52,53,54 (f)