C-H Activation by Direct Borane-Hydrocarbon Dehydrogenation: Kinetic and Thermodynamic Aspects This work was supported by the Fonds der Chemische Industrie (Sachbeihilfe and Liebig-Stipendium for B.G.), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GO 930/1-1 and Habilitationsstipendium for B.G.), the Research Pool Foundation of the University Heidelberg, Degussa-Hüls AG, and BASF AG. B.G. is grateful to Prof. P. Hofmann for support at Heidelberg and thanks Prof. A. Berndt (Marburg), Prof. G. Frenking (Marburg), and Prof. H. Mayr (München) for fruitful suggestions.