Reactivity of Boronic Acids toward Catechols in Aqueous Solution.

Fundamental information on the reactivities of boronic acids toward catechols in aqueous solution is required in all the fields dealing with boronic acid. However, comprehensive studies on reactivity are often hindered by so-called "proton ambiguity," which makes it impossible for the rate constants of boronic acid and boronate ion to be determined separately. Herein, we set up two reaction systems without proton ambiguity: (1) Alizarin Red S and (2) Tiron with several boronic acids (RB(OH)) with different ps and performed kinetic and equilibrium studies on the reaction systems.