Pure Appl. Chem., 2003, Vol. 75, No. 9, pp. 1219-1229
doi:10.1351/pac200375091219
Recent advances in the chemistry of carboranes and metallacarboranes*
Narayan S. Hosmane
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2862, USA
Abstract:
An overview of the syntheses, structures, and reactivity of the compounds formed by the incorporation of a number of d- and f-block metals into C2B4- and C2B9-carborane cages have been presented. In addition,the development of a safe, bench-scale preparation of the toxic and commercially unavailable polyhedral borane synthon, namely pentaborane(9), has also been described. Thus, this report discusses the latest developments leading to a sys- tematic synthetic approach to a number of carborane precursors and the subsequent reaction chemistry in the formation of a number of “carbons-apart ”metallacarboranes.