Trihydridoboron, also known as borane or borine, is an unstable and highly reactive molecule with the chemical formula. The preparation of borane carbonyl, BH3, played an important role in exploring the chemistry of boranes, as it indicated the likely existence of the borane molecule. However, the molecular species BH3 is a very strong Lewis acid. Consequently it is highly reactive and can only be observed directly as a continuously produced, transitory, product in a flow system or from the reaction of laser ablated atomic boron with hydrogen.
BH3 is trigonal planar molecule with D3h symmetry The experimentally determined B–H bond length is 119 pm. In the absence of other chemical species, it reacts with itself to form diborane. Thus, it is an intermediate in the preparation of diborane according to the reaction: The standard enthalpy of dimerization of BH3 is estimated to be −170 kJ mol−1. The boron atom in BH3 has 6 valence electrons. Consequently it is a strong Lewis acid and reacts with any Lewis base, L to form an adduct. in which the base donates its lone pair, forming a dative covalent bond. Such compounds are thermodynamically stable, but may be easily oxidised in air. Solutions containing borane dimethylsulfide and borane–tetrahydrofuran are commercially available; in tetrahydrofuran a stabilising agent is added to prevent the THF from oxidising the borane. A stability sequence for several common adducts of borane, estimated from spectroscopic and thermochemical data, is as follows: BH3 has some soft acid characteristics as sulfur donors form more stable complexes than do oxygen donors. Aqueous solutions of BH3 are extremely unstable.
Reactions
Molecular BH3 is believed to be a reaction intermediate in the pyrolysis of diborane to produce higher boranes: Further steps give rise to successively higher boranes, with B10H14 as the most stable end product contaminated with polymeric materials, and a little B20H26. Borane ammoniate, which is produced by a displacement reaction of other borane adducts, eliminates elemental hydrogen on heating to give borazine3. Borane adducts are widely used in organic synthesis for hydroboration, where BH3 adds across the C=C bond in alkenes to give trialkylboranes: This reaction is regioselective, Other borane derivatives can be used to give even higher regioselectivity. The product trialkylboranes can be converted to useful organic derivatives. With bulky alkenes one can prepare species such as 2, which are also useful reagents in more specialised applications. Borane dimethylsulfide which is more stable than borane–tetrahydrofuran may also be used. Hydroboration can be coupled with oxidation to give the hydroboration-oxidation reaction. In this reaction, the boryl group in the generated organoborane is substituted with a hydroxyl group. Reductive amination is an extension of the hydroboration-oxidation reaction, wherein a carbon–nitrogen double bond is undergoing hydroboration. The carbon–nitrogen double bond is created by the reductive elimination of water from a hemiaminal, formed by the addition of an amine to a carbonyl molecule, hence the adjective 'reductive'.
