A facile solvent-free method for NaBH4 and Na2B12H12 synthesis

Sodium tetrahydroborate (NaBH4) and dodecahydro-closo-dodecaborate (Na2B12H12) are both important inorganic compounds presenting multiple applications. Nevertheless, multistep and complicated conditions are usually demanded for their synthesis. In order to simplify the synthesis processes, we design a novel and facile solvent-free method for synthesizing NaBH4 or Na2B12H12 from NaNH2 and B10H14. The product of either NaBH4 or Na2B12H12 is manipulable by simply adjusting the ratio of NaNH2 to B10H14. The reaction equations of synthesizing NaBH4 and Na2B12H12 are proposed and verified, and the reaction pathways are elucidated. The findings here supply new insight to synthesize metal dodecaborates using the strategy of equal electron body for the first time and may shed light on synthesis of small metal B-H compounds from large B-H clusters. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.