Lin, Yu-JiangYu-JiangLinLiu, Wei-ChunWei-ChunLiuLiu, Yi-HungYi-HungLiuLee, Gene-HsiangGene-HsiangLeeChien, Su-YingSu-YingChienCHING-WEN CHIU2022-12-122022-12-122022-11-172041-1723https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/625957The pursuit of di-coordinate boron radical has been continued for more than a half century, and their stabilization and structural characterization remains a challenge. Here we report the isolation and structural characterization of a linear di-coordinate boron radical cation, achieved by stabilizing the two reactive atomic orbitals of the central boron atom by two orthogonal π-donating and π-accepting functionalities. The electron deficient radical cation undergoes facile one-electron reduction to borylene and binds Lewis base to give heteroleptic tri-coordinate boron radical cation. The co-existence of half-filled and empty p orbitals at boron also allows the CO-regulated electron transfer to be explored. As the introduction of CO promotes the electron transfer from a tri-coordinate neutral boron radical to a boron radical cation, the removal of CO under vacuum furnishes the reverse electron transfer from borylene to yield a solution consisting of two boron radicals.enBOND FORMATION; REDUCTION; REACTIVITYjournal article10.1038/s41467-022-34900-7363966462-s2.0-85142176000WOS:000885172300002https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85142176000