Metal-free catalytic sp2 C-H borylation with pinacolborane by a fluorinated ansa-aminoboronic acid.

We introduce a metal-free, bench-stable precatalyst for sp2 C-H borylation: a fluorinated ansa-aminoboronic acid. The precatalyst demonstrated enhanced performance over previously reported FLP-like catalysts. It tolerates halogens and ester groups, providing access to valuable building blocks. Experimental and comprehensive DFT calculations were utilized to elucidate the mechanistic details of the catalysis.