Trimethylborane

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Trimethylborane
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Names
Preferred IUPAC name
Trimethylborane [1]
Other names
Trimethylborine
Trimethylboron
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.008.926 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
EC Number
  • 209-816-3
PubChem CID
  • InChI=1S/C3H9B/c1-4(2)3/h1-3H3 Yes check.svgY
    Key: WXRGABKACDFXMG-UHFFFAOYSA-N Yes check.svgY
  • CB(C)C
Properties
C3H9B
Molar mass 55.92 g/mol
AppearanceColorless gas or liquid
Density 0.625 g/cm3 at −100 °C [3]
Melting point −161.5 °C (−258.7 °F; 111.6 K)
Boiling point −20.2 °C (−4.4 °F; 253.0 K)
Slight, highly reactive
Structure
Δ
Hazards
Occupational safety and health (OHS/OSH):
Main hazards
Spontaneously flammable in air; causes burns
GHS labelling:
GHS-pictogram-flamme.svg GHS-pictogram-acid.svg
Danger
H220, H250, H280, H314
P210, P222, P260, P264, P301+P330+P331, P302+P334, P303+P361+P353, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P310, P321, P363, P370+P378, P377, P381, P403, P405, P410+P403, P422, P501
Flash point Not applicable, pyrophoric gas
−40 °C (−40 °F; 233 K) [4]
Safety data sheet (SDS) MSDS from Voltaix
Related compounds
Related compounds
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
X mark.svgN  verify  (what is  Yes check.svgYX mark.svgN ?)

Trimethylborane (TMB) is a toxic, pyrophoric gas with the formula B(CH3)3 (which can also be written as Me3B, with Me representing methyl).

Contents

Properties

As a liquid it is colourless. The strongest line in the infrared spectrum is at 1330 cm−1 followed by lines at 3010 cm−1 and 1185 cm−1.

Its melting point is −161.5 °C, and its boiling point is −20.2 °C.

Vapour pressure is given by log P = 6.1385 + 1.75 log T − 1393.3/T − 0.007735 T, where T is temperature in kelvins. [5] Molecular weight is 55.914. The heat of vapourisation is 25.6 kJ/mol. [4]

Preparation

Trimethylborane was first described in 1862 by Edward Frankland, [6] who also mentioned its adduct with ammonia. [7] Due to its dangerous nature the compound was no longer studied until 1921, when Alfred Stock and Friedrich Zeidler took advantage of the reaction between boron trichloride gas and dimethylzinc. [8] Although the substance can be prepared using Grignard reagents the output is contaminated by unwanted products from the solvent. Trimethylborane can be made on a small scale with a 98% yield by reacting trimethylaluminium in hexane with boron tribromide in dibutyl ether as a solvent. [5] Yet other methods are reacting tributyl borate with trimethylaluminium chloride, or potassium tetrafluoroborate with trimethylaluminium, [9] or adding boron trifluoride in ether to methyl magnesium iodide. [10]

Reactions

Trimethylborane spontaneously ignites in air if the concentration is high enough. It burns with a green flame producing soot. [11] Slower oxidation with oxygen in a solvent or in the gas phase can produce dimethyltrioxadiboralane, which contains a ring of two boron and three oxygen atoms. However the major product is dimethylborylmethylperoxide, which rapidly decomposes to dimethoxymethylborane. [12]

Trimethylborane is a strong Lewis acid. B(CH3)3 can form an adduct with ammonia: (NH3):B(CH3)3. [13] as well as other Lewis bases. The Lewis acid properties of B(CH3)3 have been analyzed by the ECW model yielding EA= 2.90 and CA= 3.60. When trimethylborane forms an adduct with trimethylamine, steric repulsion between the methyl groups on the B and N results. The ECW model can provide a measure of this steric effect.

Trimethylborane reacts with water and chlorine at room temperature. It also reacts with grease but not with teflon or glass. [5]

Trimethylborane reacts with diborane to disproportionate to form methyldiborane and dimethyldiborane: (CH3)BH2.BH3 and (CH3)2BH.BH3.

It reacts as a gas with trimethylphosphine to form a solid Lewis salt with a heat of formation of −41 kcal per mol. This adduct has a heat of sublimation of −24.6 kcal/mol. No reaction occurs with trimethylarsine or trimethylstibine. [10]

Methyl lithium reacting with the Trimethylborane produces a tetramethylborate salt: LiB(CH3)4. [14] The tetramethylborate ion has a negative charge and is isoelectronic with neopentane, tetramethylsilane, and the tetramethylammonium cation.

Use

Trimethylborane has been used as a neutron counter. [15] For this use it has to be very pure. [13] It is also used in chemical vapour deposition where boron and carbon need to be deposited together.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ester</span> Compound derived from an acid

In chemistry, an ester is a functional group derived from an acid in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group of that acid is replaced by an organyl group. Analogues derived from oxygen replaced by other chalcogens belong to the ester category as well. According to some authors, organyl derivatives of acidic hydrogen of other acids are esters as well, but not according to the IUPAC.

In coordination chemistry, a coordinate covalent bond, also known as a dative bond, dipolar bond, or coordinate bond is a kind of two-center, two-electron covalent bond in which the two electrons derive from the same atom. The bonding of metal ions to ligands involves this kind of interaction. This type of interaction is central to Lewis acid–base theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis acids and bases</span> Chemical bond theory

A Lewis acid (named for the American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis) is a chemical species that contains an empty orbital which is capable of accepting an electron pair from a Lewis base to form a Lewis adduct. A Lewis base, then, is any species that has a filled orbital containing an electron pair which is not involved in bonding but may form a dative bond with a Lewis acid to form a Lewis adduct. For example, NH3 is a Lewis base, because it can donate its lone pair of electrons. Trimethylborane [(CH3)3B] is a Lewis acid as it is capable of accepting a lone pair. In a Lewis adduct, the Lewis acid and base share an electron pair furnished by the Lewis base, forming a dative bond. In the context of a specific chemical reaction between NH3 and Me3B, a lone pair from NH3 will form a dative bond with the empty orbital of Me3B to form an adduct NH3•BMe3. The terminology refers to the contributions of Gilbert N. Lewis.

Dimethylformamide, DMF is an organic compound with the chemical formula HCON(CH3)2. Its structure is HC(=O)−N(−CH3)2. Commonly abbreviated as DMF, this colourless liquid is miscible with water and the majority of organic liquids. DMF is a common solvent for chemical reactions. Dimethylformamide is odorless, but technical-grade or degraded samples often have a fishy smell due to impurity of dimethylamine. Dimethylamine degradation impurities can be removed by sparging samples with an inert gas such as argon or by sonicating the samples under reduced pressure. As its name indicates, it is structurally related to formamide, having two methyl groups in the place of the two hydrogens. DMF is a polar (hydrophilic) aprotic solvent with a high boiling point. It facilitates reactions that follow polar mechanisms, such as SN2 reactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimethylaluminium</span> Chemical compound

Trimethylaluminium is one of the simplest examples of an organoaluminium compound. Despite its name it has the formula Al2(CH3)6 (abbreviated as Al2Me6 or TMA), as it exists as a dimer. This colorless liquid is pyrophoric. It is an industrially important compound, closely related to triethylaluminium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organoboron chemistry</span> Study of compounds containing a boron-carbon bond

Organoboron chemistry or organoborane chemistry studies organoboron compounds, also called organoboranes. These chemical compounds combine boron and carbon; typically, they are organic derivatives of borane (BH3), as in the trialkyl boranes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimethylamine</span> Chemical compound

Dimethylamine is an organic compound with the formula (CH3)2NH. This secondary amine is a colorless, flammable gas with an ammonia-like odor. Dimethylamine is commonly encountered commercially as a solution in water at concentrations up to around 40%. An estimated 270,000 tons were produced in 2005.

In chemistry a donor number (DN) is a quantitative measure of Lewis basicity. A donor number is defined as the negative enthalpy value for the 1:1 adduct formation between a Lewis base and the standard Lewis acid SbCl5 (antimony pentachloride), in dilute solution in the noncoordinating solvent 1,2-dichloroethane with a zero DN. The units are kilocalories per mole for historical reasons. The donor number is a measure of the ability of a solvent to solvate cations and Lewis acids. The method was developed by V. Gutmann in 1976. Likewise Lewis acids are characterized by acceptor numbers (AN, see Gutmann–Beckett method).

Boron trichloride is the inorganic compound with the formula BCl3. This colorless gas is a reagent in organic synthesis. It is highly reactive towards water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boron tribromide</span> Chemical compound

Boron tribromide, BBr3, is a colorless, fuming liquid compound containing boron and bromine. Commercial samples usually are amber to red/brown, due to weak bromine contamination. It is decomposed by water and alcohols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonia borane</span> Chemical compound

Ammonia borane, also called borazane, is the chemical compound with the formula H3NBH3. The colourless or white solid is the simplest molecular boron-nitrogen-hydride compound. It has attracted attention as a source of hydrogen fuel, but is otherwise primarily of academic interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adduct</span> Product of direct addition of two or more distinct molecules

In chemistry, an adduct is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all components. The resultant is considered a distinct molecular species. Examples include the addition of sodium bisulfite to an aldehyde to give a sulfonate. It can be considered as a single product resulting from the direct combination of different molecules which comprises all atoms of the reactant molecules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borane dimethylsulfide</span> Chemical compound

Borane dimethylsulfide (BMS) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula BH3·S(CH3)2. It is an adduct between borane molecule and dimethyl sulfide molecule. It is a complexed borane reagent that is used for hydroborations and reductions. The advantages of BMS over other borane reagents, such as borane-tetrahydrofuran, are its increased stability and higher solubility. BMS is commercially available at much higher concentrations than its tetrahydrofuran counterpart and does not require sodium borohydride as a stabilizer, which could result in undesired side reactions. In contrast, BH3·THF requires sodium borohydride to inhibit reduction of THF to tributyl borate. BMS is soluble in most aprotic solvents.

Borane, also known as borine, is an unstable and highly reactive molecule with the chemical formula BH
3
. The preparation of borane carbonyl, BH3(CO), played an important role in exploring the chemistry of boranes, as it indicated the likely existence of the borane molecule. However, the molecular species BH3 is a very strong Lewis acid. Consequently, it is highly reactive and can only be observed directly as a continuously produced, transitory, product in a flow system or from the reaction of laser ablated atomic boron with hydrogen. It normally dimerizes to diborane in the absence of other chemicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1,2-Dimethyldiborane</span> Chemical compound

1,2-Dimethyldiborane is an organoboron compound with the formula [(CH3)BH2]2. Structurally, it is related to diborane, but with methyl groups replacing terminal hydrides on each boron. It is the dimer of methylborane, CH3BH2, the simplest alkylborane. 1,2-Dimethyldiborane can exist in a cis- and a trans arrangement. 1,2-Dimethyldiborane is an easily condensed, colorless gas that ignites spontaneously in air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetramethyldiborane</span> Chemical compound

Dimethylborane, (CH3)2BH is the simplest dialkylborane, consisting of a methyl group substituted for a hydrogen in borane. As for other boranes it normally exists in the form of a dimer called tetramethyldiborane or tetramethylbisborane or TMDB ((CH3)2BH)2. Other combinations of methylation occur on diborane, including monomethyldiborane, trimethyldiborane, 1,2-dimethylborane, 1,1-dimethylborane and trimethylborane. At room temperature the substance is at equilibrium between these forms. The methylboranes were first prepared by H. I. Schlesinger and A. O. Walker in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimethyldiborane</span> Chemical compound

Trimethyldiborane, (CH3)3B2H3 is a molecule containing boron carbon and hydrogen. It is an alkylborane, consisting of three methyl group substituted for a hydrogen in diborane. It can be considered a mixed dimer: (CH3)2BH2BH(CH3) or dimethylborane and methylborane. called 1,2-dimethyldiborane. Other combinations of methylation occur on diborane, including monomethyldiborane, 1,2-dimethyldiborane, tetramethyldiborane, 1,1-dimethylborane and trimethylborane. At room temperature the substance is at equilibrium between these forms, so it is difficult to keep it pure. The methylboranes were first prepared by H. I. Schlesinger and A. O. Walker in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methyldiborane</span> Chemical compound

Methyldiborane, CH3B2H5, or monomethyldiborane is the simplest of alkyldiboranes, consisting of a methyl group substituted for a hydrogen in diborane. As with other boranes it exists in the form of a dimer with a twin hydrogen bridge that uses three-center two-electron bonding between the two boron atoms, and can be imagined as methyl borane (CH3BH2) bound to borane (BH3). Other combinations of methylation occur on diborane, including 1,1-dimethylborane, 1,2-dimethyldiborane, trimethyldiborane, tetramethyldiborane, and trimethylborane (which is not a dimer). At room temperature the substance is at equilibrium between these molecules.

In chemistry, the ECW model is a semi-quantitative model that describes and predicts the strength of Lewis acid–Lewis base interactions. Many chemical reactions can be described as acid–base reactions, so models for such interactions are of potentially broad interest. The model initially assigned E and C parameters to each and every acid and base. The model was later expanded to the ECW model to cover reactions that have a constant energy term, W, which describes processes that precede the acid–base reaction. This quantitative model is often discussed with the qualitative HSAB theory, which also seeks to rationalize the behavior of diverse acids and bases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1,1-Dimethyldiborane</span> Chemical compound

1,1-Dimethyldiborane is the organoboron compound with the formula (CH3)2B(μ-H)2BH2. A pair of related 1,2-dimethyldiboranes are also known. It is a colorless gas that ignites in air.

References

  1. IUPAC Chemical Nomenclature and Structure Representation Division (2013). "P-6". In Favre, Henri A.; Powell, Warren H. (eds.). Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013. IUPACRSC. ISBN   978-0-85404-182-4.. p. 974.
  2. Graner, G.; Hirota E.; Iijima T.; Kuchitsu K.; Ramsay, D. A.; Vogt, J.; Vogt, N. (2001). "C3H9B Trimethylborane". C3H9B Trimethylborane. Molecules and Radicals. Landolt-Börnstein - Group II. Vol. 25C: Molecules containing three or four carbon atoms. p. 1370. doi:10.1007/10688787_381. ISBN   978-3-540-66774-2.
  3. See MSDS
  4. 1 2 "Trimethylborane" (2009) at the Online Chemical Dictionary. Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine .
  5. 1 2 3 Rees, William S. Jr.; et al. (1990). Ginsberg, Alvin P. (ed.). Trimethylborane. Inorganic Syntheses. Vol. 27. p. 339.
  6. Frankland, Edward (1862). "Ueber eine neue Reihe organischer Verbindungen, welche Bor enthalten". Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 124: 129–157. doi:10.1002/jlac.18621240102.
  7. Nishiyabu R.; Kubo Y.; James, T. D.; Fossey, J. S. (2011). "Boronic acid building blocks: tools for self assembly". Chem. Commun. 47 (4): 1124–1150. doi:10.1039/C0CC02921A. PMID   21113558.
  8. Stock, A.; Zeidler, F. (1921). "Zur Kenntnis des Bormethyls und Boräthyls". Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. A/B. 54 (3): 531–541. doi:10.1002/cber.19210540321.
  9. Köster, Roland; Binger, Paul; Dahlhoff, Wilhelm V. (1973). "A convenient preparation of trimethylborane and triethylborane". Synthesis and Reactivity in Inorganic and Metal-Organic Chemistry. 3 (4): 359–367. doi:10.1080/00945717308057281.
  10. 1 2 Mente, Donald Charles (May 1975). The Reactions of Trimethyl Group Va Lewis Bases with Simple Boron Lewis Acids (PDF) (PhD thesis). Texas Tech. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  11. Ellern, Herbert (1968). Military and Civilian Pyrotechnics . Chemical Publishing Company. p.  24. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.137.1104 . ISBN   978-0-8206-0364-3.
  12. Barton, Lawrence; Crump, John M.; Wheatley, Jeffrey B. (June 1974). "Trioxadiborolanes from the oxidation of methyldiborane". Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. 72 (1): C1–C3. doi:10.1016/s0022-328x(00)82027-6.
  13. 1 2 Ross, Gaylon S.; et al. (2 October 1961). "Preparation of High Purity Trimethylborane" (PDF). Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards Section A. 66 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  14. Georg Wittig in 1958
  15. Ferguson, G. A. Jr; Jablonski, F. E. (2004-12-29). "Electron Mobility in Boron Trimethyl". Review of Scientific Instruments. 28 (11): 893. doi:10.1063/1.1715757. ISSN   0034-6748.