Designing Functional and Responsive Molecules with Boronic Acids.

ConspectusBoronic acids (BAs) are one of the most important classes of reagents in modern synthesis, enabling a wide range of powerful transformations that facilitate the formation of key carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. While their success as reagents is well-known, their remarkable potential as building blocks for creating functional molecules is often overlooked.At the core of BAs' uniqueness is their ability to form reversible covalent bonds, thanks to the interconversion of the boron atom between its uncharged trigonal planar structure and an anionic sp-hybridized form.