11/20/11 - Hydroboration

    Today, is a simple organic reaction pertaining to the addition of borane (in THF) to an olefin (alkene).  This reaction is then worked up with hydrogen peroxide and a basic environment (usually a source of OH-) to relieve the boron from the carbon and to replace it with an alcohol group.  The mechanistic nature of this reaction calls for the borane into going anti markovnikov due to the fact that it is adopts a partial positive charge as seen below.
  
Pictures: Wikipedia