Decaborane

Decaborane, also called decaborane(14) or decaboron tetradecahydride, is a stable crystalline H₁₄. It forms colorless to white crystals. The B₁₀ framework is an incomplete icosahedron.

B₁₀H₁₄ possesses a strong penetrating musty odor that is unique to boron hydrides. It is not sensitive to moist air, although it hydrolyzes in boiling water, releasing hydrogen and boric acid solution. It is soluble in cold water.

Synthesis

It is commonly synthesized via the Sublimation is the most common method of purification.

Chemical properties

Decaborane(14) is soluble in a wide variety of non-polar and moderately polar adduct with the formula B₁₀H₁₂•2L, where L = CH₃CN, Me₂S).

Decaborane(14) is a Brønsted acid: in the presence of moderately strong bases, a proton can be removed to generate the anion [B₁₀H₁₃]^–.

Decaborane, like pentaborane, is a powerful toxin affecting central nervous system, although considerably less toxic than pentaborane. It can be absorbed through skin.

It forms an explosive mixture with tetrachloromethane, which caused an often quoted explosion in a Malta, NY manufacturing facility in 1948 when CCl₄ was used to clean the equipment.^[1]

Applications

Decaborane ions can be used for low energy thin films.

In fusion research, the absorbing nature of thin films of decaborane is used to boronize the walls of the tokamak vacuum vessel to reduce recycling of particles and impurities into the plasma and improve overall performance. [2]

In polymer chemistry, decaborane is used as a catalyst.^{[citation needed]}

Decaborane was also being used as an additive to special high-performance acetylene. [3]

See also

• Decaborane(16)

References

1. ^ UCLA, Condensed version of the 79th Faculty Research Lecture Presented by Professor M. Frederick Hawthorne, accessed 23 Oct 2006.

• NIST Chemistry Webbook, decaborane, accessed 23 Oct 2006.
• National Pollutant Inventory, Boron and compounds, accessed 23 Oct 2006.
• Decaborane in Organic Synthesis
• Webelements, Compounds of boron, accessed 23 Oct 2006.