Borohydride refers to the anion , which is also called tetrahydroborate or more commonly tetrahydrobiopterin, and its salts. Borohydride or hydroborate is also the term used for compounds containing , where ''n'' is an integer from 0 to 3, for example cyanoborohydride or cyanotrihydroborate and triethylborohydride or triethylhydroborate . Borohydrides find wide use as

reducing agent In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ). Examples of substances that are common reducing agents include hydrogen, carbon ...

s in

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a branch of chemical synthesis concerned with the construction of organic compounds. Organic compounds are molecules consisting of combinations of covalently-linked hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Within the gen ...

. The most important borohydrides are lithium borohydride and

sodium borohydride Sodium borohydride, also known as sodium tetrahydridoborate and sodium tetrahydroborate, is an inorganic compound with the formula (sometimes written as ). It is a white crystalline solid, usually encountered as an aqueous basic solution. Sodi ...

, but other salts are well known (see Table). Tetrahydroborates are also of academic and industrial interest in inorganic chemistry.

History

Alkali metal The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K),The symbols Na and K for sodium and potassium are derived from their Latin names, ''natrium'' and ''kalium''; these are still the origins of the names ...

borohydrides were first described in 1940 by Hermann Irving Schlesinger and Herbert C. Brown. They synthesized lithium borohydride from diborane : :, where M = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, etc. Current methods involve reduction of

trimethyl borate Trimethyl borate is the organoboron compound with the formula B(OCH3)3. It is a colourless liquid that burns with a green flame. It is an intermediate in the preparation of sodium borohydride and is a popular reagent in organic chemistry. It i ...

with sodium hydride.

Structure

In the borohydride anion and most of its modifications,

boron Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three ...

has a

tetrahedral In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...

structure. The reactivity of the B−H bonds depends on the other ligands. Electron-releasing ethyl groups as in triethylborohydride render the B−H center highly nucleophilic. In contrast, cyanoborohydride is a weaker reductant owing to the electron-withdrawing cyano substituent. The countercation also influences the reducing power of the reagent.

Uses

Sodium borohydride is the borohydride that is produced on the largest scale industrially, estimated at 5000 tons/year in 2002. The main use is for the reduction of

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...

to give sodium dithionite: : Dithionite is used to bleach wood pulp. Sodium borohydride is also used to reduce aldehydes and ketones in the production of pharmaceuticals including

chloramphenicol Chloramphenicol is an antibiotic useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes use as an eye ointment to treat conjunctivitis. By mouth or by intravenous, injection into a vein, it is used to treat meningitis, pl ...

, thiophenicol,

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...

atropine Atropine is a tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate, and to decrease saliva production during surgery. It is typically give ...

, and scopolamine, as well as many flavorings and aromas.

Potential applications

Because of their high hydrogen content, borohydride complexes and salts have been of interest in the context of hydrogen storage. Reminiscent of related work on

ammonia borane Ammonia borane (also systematically named ammoniotrihydroborate), also called borazane, is the chemical compound with the formula . The colourless or white solid is the simplest molecular boron-nitrogen-hydride compound. It has attracted attention ...

, challenges are associated with slow kinetics and low yields of hydrogen as well as problems with regeneration of the parent borohydrides.

Coordination complexes

In its

coordination complex A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...

es, the borohydride ion is bound to the metal by means of one to three bridging hydrogen atoms. In most such compounds, the ligand is bidentate. Some homoleptic borohydride complexes are volatile. One example is uranium borohydride. Metal borohydride complexes can often be prepared by a simple salt elimination reaction: : Beryllium borohydride is dimeric. Beryllium Borohyride Complex

Decomposition

Some metal tetrahydroborates transform on heating to give metal borides. When the borohydride complex is volatile, this decomposition pathway is the basis of

chemical vapor deposition Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical CVD, the wafer (electro ...

(CVD), a way of depositing thin films of metal borides. For example, zirconium diboride and hafnium diboride can be prepared through CVD of the zirconium(IV) tetrahydroborate and hafnium(IV) tetrahydroborate : : Metal diborides find uses as coatings because of their hardness, high melting point, strength, resistance to wear and corrosion, and good electrical conductivity.

References

External links

{{Wikiquote
Sodium Tetrahydroborate
Anions