Our latest collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. and the Liu group at the University of Pittsburgh describing the copper-catalyzed hydroboration of benzylidenecyclobutanes (BCBs) and related four-membered ring compounds has been accepted for publication in ACS Catalysis. Key to the success of this method was the identification of a modified 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (dppbz) ligand that enhances reactivity through π-stacking interactions with the substrate, as elucidated by density functional theory (DFT). Congrats to Taeho and Kane from our lab, ‪Tuğçe from the Liu lab at Pittsburgh, and Gary, Alex, Sajiv, Ryan, Ru, Scott, and Indra from Pfizer. Special props to high-school senior Kane for co-authoring his second paper!

For a link to the paper, click here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.0c03622

This work was first described back in August: https://chemrxiv.org/articles/preprint/Multifaceted_Substrate_Ligand_Interactions_Promote_the_Copper-Catalyzed_Hydroboration_of_Benzylidenecyclobutanes_and_Related_Compounds/12788390