Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Discovery and Overviews in Catalysis

Frustrated Lewis Pairs (FLPs) are derived from simple combinations of Lewis acids (electron acceptors) and Lewis bases (electron donors), in which steric demands prevent from forming classical Lewis acid-base adducts. Since 2006, FLP chemistry has emerged as a novel strategy for the design and application of main-group chemistry and development of new metal-free catalytic processes. This strategy has been applied to stoichiometric reactivity and then extended to catalysis. In this review, we briefly summarize the representative discoveries and developments of FLP chemistry in the field of catalysis, including hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, reduction of CO2, transformations of alkynes to organic derivatives, C—H bond borylation and polymerization.