amines and boranes are the archetypical lewis bases and acids , respectively . the former can readily undergo one - electron oxidation to give radical cations , whereas the latter are easily reduced to afford radical anions . the present invention provides the synthesis of neutral tricoordinate boron derivatives , which act as a lewis base , and undergoes one - electron oxidation into the corresponding radical cation . the present invention also provides borylene and borinylium complexes stabilized by two cyclic carbenes . ab initio calculations show that the homo of the borane as well as the somo of the radical cation are essentially a pair and a single electron in the p - orbital of boron , respectively .