Four-coordinate triarylborane synthesis via cascade B–Cl/C–B cross-metathesis and C–H bond borylation

To develop a simple and efficient synthetic method for four-coordinate triarylboranes, we herein describe a tandem highly selective B–Cl/C–B cross-metathesis of two of the same or different arylboranes and C–H bond borylation to synthesize four-coordinate triarylboranes with a broad substrate scope. By switching substituent groups of the target molecules, different emission wavelengths can be achieved from 467 nm to 583 nm with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties.