Potassium 3-fluoro-4′-pentylbiphenyl-4-trifluoroborate

Description

Potassium 3-fluoro-4′-pentylbiphenyl-4-trifluoroborate is a potassium organotrifluoroborate – the tetracoordinate, air-stable counterpart of the corresponding boronic acid, built on a biphenyl core with a pentyl chain and a single lateral fluorine.

The practical argument for a trifluoroborate is stoichiometric honesty. Boronic acids equilibrate with their cyclic anhydrides (boroxines) and carry variable water, so a weighed sample is of uncertain composition. The trifluoroborate is a defined crystalline salt: it weighs what it is, tolerates air and moisture on the bench, and releases the active boron species only under the hydrolytic conditions of the reaction itself.

Key data

• Molecular formula: C17H18BF4K
• Molecular weight: 348.23 g/mol
• Category: Potassium Trifluoroborates

What the substitution pattern does

The pentyl chain places this compound at n=5 in its homologous series. Chain length is not a cosmetic variable here: each added methylene lowers the melting point unevenly and shifts the balance between nematic and smectic order, because an odd-numbered chain sets its terminal bond at a different angle to the molecular long axis than an even one. Homologues therefore alternate in behaviour rather than trending smoothly, and an odd-numbered member frequently outperforms both of its neighbours for a given formulation.

A single lateral fluorine is the minimal intervention available to a materials chemist: it disrupts crystal packing enough to depress the melting point and widen the usable mesophase range, while adding almost nothing to molecular width.

The biphenyl core supplies the rigid, elongated shape that mesophase formation requires. Its two rings twist out of coplanarity by roughly 40 degrees in the gas phase but flatten in condensed phases, and that adjustable conjugation is what makes biphenyls both mesogenic and optically anisotropic.

Typical applications

• extension of rigid-core length in high-birefringence blends
• preparation of fluorinated biphenyls for display-grade liquid crystal blends
• Suzuki-Miyaura coupling where a weighable, non-hygroscopic boron source is required
• multi-step sequences in which the boron handle must survive earlier steps untouched
• reactions run in air, on the open bench, without glovebox handling

Ordering

This compound is supplied to order. Pricing depends on quantity and on the specification you need, so it is quoted rather than listed – send an enquiry stating the quantity and any purity or analytical requirement, and you will receive a written quotation.

Handling and documentation

Supplied for laboratory and industrial use by trained personnel only. Not for use as a medicine, food, cosmetic or biocide, and not for administration to humans or animals. Safety documentation is issued with the order; this page is not a source of hazard information.