Bypassing Ammonia: From N to Nitrogen Heterocycles without N Intermediates or Transition Metals.

Diboradiazene compounds, derived in one step from the boron-mediated reduction of dinitrogen (N), were treated separately with sulfur and acetic anhydride, providing heterocyclic compounds that are BN isosteres of thiophene and 1,3-oxazole, respectively. These simple reactions represent the final steps in two-step routes to complex heterocycles from N that both circumvent the need for transition metal reagents and completely bypass the traditional intermediate ammonia.