Pentaborane(11) is inorganic compound with the chemical formula B5H11. It is an obscure boron hydride cluster, especially relative to the heavily studied pentaborane(9) (B5H9). With two more hydrogen atoms than nido-pentaborane(9), pentaborane(11) is classified as an arachno- cluster.[1]
Synthesis
Like many boron hydride clusters, pentaborane(11) was originally obtained from the pyrolysis of diborane. A more systematic synthesis entails treatment of [B4H9]− with boron tribromide. The Lewis acid abstracts hydride to give unstable B4H8, the precursor to B5H11:[2]
- [B4H9]− + BBr3 → B4H8 + HBBr3−
- 2 B4H8 → B5H11 + "B3H5"
References
- ^ Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8.
- ^ Toft, Mark A.; Leach, J. B.; Himpsl, Francis L.; Shore, Sheldon G. (1982). "New, Systematic Syntheses of Boron Hydrides via Hydride ion Abstraction Reactions: Preparation of B2H6, B4H10, B5H11, and B10H14". Inorganic Chemistry. 21 (5): 1952–7. doi:10.1021/ic00135a048.
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