One boron or two-connected borons, which would be better for amide bond formation?

What is it about?

Most of the reported ONE boron-catalyzed amidation protocols aim at the synthesis of aliphatic amide derivatives. In contrast, examples for aromatic carboxylic acids such as benzoic acid derivatives remain scarce. TWO-connected boron (diboron) was found to be a more efficient dehydrative catalysts for the formation of C–N bonds between aromatic carboxylic acids and amines.

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Why is it important?

Considering that these diboron reagents are inexpensive and easy to handle, it is very surprising that they have not yet been used for such dehydrative amidations, and at last we did it! The method showed very wide substrate scope with respect to aromatic carboxylic acids. N-protected natural amino acids are also applicable.