Boron is unique among the elements and displays remarkable chemistry in all of its compounds. It is widely distributed in low concentrations throughout the Earth's crust and is nearly always found bound to oxygen in its natural forms. Boron enters the life cycle of plants and animals and is important for the normal growth of plants, and possibly all living things. The vast majority of industrial uses of boron involve boron–oxygen compounds, including metal borates, boric oxide, boric acid, and boric acid esters. These have large‐scale applications in many industries, most notably in the manufacture of glasses, ceramics, and other vitreous materials. Boric acid is a weak Lewis acid that does not display Brønsted acidity in aqueous solution. Condensation of B(OH)
3
and its conjugate base B(OH)
4
−
to form polyborate anions in aqueous solution has important implications for the solubilities and other solution properties of metal and nonmetal borate salts and provides the structural basis of numerous natural and synthetic borate compounds. Boric acid reacts with alcohols and other hydroxyl group‐bearing compounds to form esters, which have many industrial uses. Reversible borate ester formation with 1,2‐ and 1,3‐diols provides the basis for crosslinked polymers used in adhesives and oilfield applications as well as the essential biological roles of boron. Although much smaller in scale compared to boron oxides, nonoxide compounds of boron have many important industrial uses. These include refractory compounds, such as boron carbide, boron nitrides, boron phosphides, elemental boron, metal borides, and metal‐boron alloys, as well as nonrefractories such as the boron halides and boron hydrides. Although many nonrefractory compounds, such as boron–sulfur compounds, are yet to find significant industrial uses, they nonetheless exhibit fascinating chemistries.