Frustrated Lewis pair-like reactions of nucleophilic palladium carbenes with B(C6F5)3.

The reactions of two nucleophilic palladium carbene complexes with the strong Lewis acid B(C6F5)3 afforded two zwitterionic products. One of them features a remote nucleophilic attack at the para-carbon of the supporting ligand, while the other indicates C-F activation of B(C6F5)3. Both behaviours are reminiscent of the reactivity of frustrated Lewis pairs due to the steric inaccessibility of the nucleophilic carbon center, but are unprecedented for transition metal carbene complexes. Furthermore, when those reactions are carried out in the presence of H2, products resulting from H2 splitting are observed.