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Category: Synthesis
Posted on: August 19, 2008 9:40 PM, by Molecule of the Day
Sodium borohydride is intermediate to the jackhammer that is LAH and the pussycat that is cyanoborohydride.
Borohydride is just on the cusp of reducing protons to hydrogen. In acidic solution, it'll bubble off hydrogen, in basic solution, it's stable enough that Aldrich sells the stuff.
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Comments
Let us not discount the counterion. Lewis acid lithium hots up borohydride.
Posted by: Uncle Al | August 20, 2008 11:10 AM
Good point Uncle Al. The cation makes a huge difference in reducing strength. I can't remember the order of things, but I do remember learning about it...
Posted by: Vince Noir | August 22, 2008 1:26 AM
I used to use sodium borohydride to reduce soluble platinum salts in waste solutions to precipitate and recover the platinum. Of course management insisted that this operation only be performed at night--I guess they had a problem with being in the building while hydrogen was being generated. ;-)
Posted by: The Science Pundit | August 31, 2008 2:08 PM