Accessing Frustrated Lewis Pair Chemistry from a Spectroscopically Stable and Classical Lewis Acid‐Base Adduct

Abstract B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 and P(MeNCH 2 CH 2 ) 3 N form a classical Lewis adduct, (C 6 F 5 ) 3 BP(MeNCH 2 CH 2 ) 3 N. Although (C 6 F 5 ) 3 BP(MeNCH 2 CH 2 ) 3 N does not exhibit spectroscopic evidence of dissociation into its constituent acid and base, products of frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) addition reactions are seen with PhNCO, PhCH 2 N 3 , PhNSO, and CO 2 . Computational studies show that thermal access to the dissociated acid and base permits FLP reactivity to proceed. These results demonstrate that FLP reactivity extends across the entire continuum of equilibria governing Lewis acid‐base adducts.