Open AccessBorohydrates.—Part I
Author(s) -
Morris W. Travers,
Rames Chandra Ray
Publication year - 1912
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1912.0069
Subject(s) - boron , hydrogen , hydride , chemistry , magnesium , boride , medicinal chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
In 1881 Jones and Taylor demonstrated the existence of a compound of boron and hydrogen, and 20 years later Ramsay and Hatfield published a preliminary account of a research on the hydrides of boron, describing experiments which, even if they cannot be regarded as conclusive, opened up a field of investigation well worthy of attention. They found that on passing the gas evolved by the action of dilute acids on magnesium boride through a bulb cooled in liquid air, a solid substance was deposited which, on warming the bulb, volatilised and could be collected as a gas. From the results of the analysis of the gas, and its density, its formula appeared to be B3 H3 ; but it appeared to consist of two isomeric substances, one stable, and the other unstable and readily decomposed by reagents. The gas which was not condensed by liquid air appeared to consist mainly of hydrogen, but to contain a hydride or hydrides of boron. Assuming the trivalency of boron, it is possible, as Ramsay and Hatfield point out, that a very large number of “hydroborons” may exist. The simpler of these may be represented by the formulæ:— (a ) BH3 , (b ) BH2 -BH2 (c ) BH=BH, (d ) BH2 -BH-BH2 (e ) BH2 -B=BH, (f ) BH / BH-BH.