Thesis advisor: Shih-Yuan Liu / Despite extensive research in B–N-containing aromatic systems (most notably 1,2-azaborines) for their potential use in biomedicine and materials science, development of their oxygen counterparts, 1,2-oxaborines, remains underdeveloped. Presented herein is a straightforward route to access 1,2-oxaborines via a ring-closing metathesis strategy. Attempts to utilize the 1,2-oxaborine as a 1,3-diene in the Diels–Alder cycloaddition for potential application as a 4C + 1O synthon are also presented. Lastly, investigations regarding the aromaticity of the B–O heterocycles is probed using computations and isothermal reaction calorimetry. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

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Many defects in physiological processes are due to free radical damage: reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and hydroxyl radicals have been implicated in the parthenogenesis of cancer, diabetes mellitus, and rheumatoid arthritis. We herein characterize the phenyl-N-ter-butyl nitrone (PBN) type spin traps in conjunction with the most studied dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) type spin traps using the hydroxyl radical. In this study, theoretical calculations are carried out on the two main types of spin traps (DMPO and PBN) at the density functional theory level (DFT). The energies of the optimized structures, hyperfine calculations in gaseous and aqueous phases of the spin traps and the hydroxyl radical adduct are calculated at the B3LYP correlation and at the 6-31G (d) and 6-311G (2df, p) basis sets respectively. The dielectric effect on the performance of the spin trap is determined using the polarized continuum model. Calculations show a localization of spin densities in both cases. However, DMPO spin traps are shown to be more stable and more interactive in aqueous environment.