What is carborane superacid used for?

Carborane acids may also be used as strong, selective Brønsted acids for fine chemical synthesis, where the low nucleophilicity of the counteranion may be advantageous. In mechanistic organic chemistry, they may be used in the study of reactive cationic intermediates.

What is the formula of carborane superacid?

The new acid, which has the formula H(CHB11Cl11), is incredibly good at donating hydrogen ions, or protons, which is how acidic strength is defined. It is over 100 trillion times more acidic than the water in your local swimming pool.

What is Nido carborane?

The nido-carboranes are structures with a “nest” like appearance. The structure is similar to a closo-carborane of the same number of components in the geometry, except for a missing vertex, or, in other words, the n boron atoms occupy the vertices of an n + 1 closo-polyhedron.

What are carboranes with examples?

Typically they are prepared by the addition of one-carbon reagents to boron hydride clusters. One-carbon reagents include cyanide, isocyanides, and formaldehyde. For example, monocarbadodecaborate ([CB11H12]−) is produced from decaborane and formaldehyde, followed by addition of borane dimethylsulfide.

How are carborane acids different from classical superacids?

Carborane acids differ from classical superacids in being well-defined one component substances. In contrast, classical superacids are often mixtures of a Brønsted acid and Lewis acid (e.g. HF/SbF 5 ).

Which is stronger Brønsted acid or carborane acid?

In contrast, classical superacids are often mixtures of a Brønsted acid and Lewis acid (e.g. HF/SbF 5 ). Despite being the strongest acid, the boron-based carborane acids are described as being “gentle”, cleanly protonating weakly basic substances without further side reactions.

How is the carborane ligand used in MOFs?

The carborane (CB)-functionalized ligand was installed in a variety of MOFs through postsynthetic ligand exchange processes. This methodology is a general method for preparing o -CB-functionalized MOFs with known frameworks.

What is the starting material for carborane acid?

Nevertheless, the synthesis of carborane acids remains lengthy and difficult and requires a well-maintained glovebox and some specialized equipment. The starting material is commercially available decaborane (14), a highly toxic substance. The most well-studied carborane acid H (CHB 11 Cl 11) is prepared in 13 steps.