Cleaving Dihydrogen with Tetra(o‑tolyl)diborane(4)

Tetra­(o-tolyl)­diborane­(4), 1, was synthesized and characterized experimentally as well as theoretically by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Exposure of 1 to H2 (1 bar) at room temperature afforded the corresponding di­(o-tolyl)­hydro­borane through cleavage of the H–H and B–B bonds. DFT calculations suggested a diaryl­boryl anion character for the transition state.