These pharmaceuticals will resist carbon-boron bond cleavage until they have delivered the borylated pro-drug to the correct location, e.g., a specific organ. Cleavage will then occur to release the active drug in the right place at the right time. This will ensure the optimum drug concentration at the target, avoiding undesired side-effects, and requiring lower and safer doses.

Recent examples of potential new boron-containing pharmaceuticals synthesised in the Watson group include the benzoxaboroles in the figures on the right. Benzoxoboroles are versatile boron containing heterocycles that have demonstrated many pharmacological activities including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-malarial.