Two unusual chainlike potassium borates of K 4 B 10 O 15 (OH) 4 (1) and KB 5 O 7 (OH) 2 ‚H 2 O (2) have been synthesized under mild solvothermal conditions at 170 °C. The structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and further characterized by FTIR, powder X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. Compound 1 crystallized in the monoclinic space group C2/c, a ) 18.077(6) Å, b ) 6.857(2) Å, c ) 13.266(4) Å, β ) 95.271(4)°, V ) 1637.4(9) Å 3 , Z ) 4, R ) 0.0234; and compound 2 crystallized in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c, a ) 9.4824(8) Å, b ) 7.5180(6) Å, c ) 11.4154(6) Å, β ) 97.277(3)°, V ) 807.2(1) Å 3 , Z ) 4, R ) 0.0502. The stepped chains of 1 are built up from corner sharing of B 3 O 5 (OH) 2 3and B 4 O 9 6groups to form new fundamental building blocks (FBBs) of B 5 O 10 (OH) 2 7constructed by corner sharing of one B 3 O 5 (OH) 2 3cluster with a three-membered ring, one BO 3 3unit, and BO 4 5tetrahedron, while the double helical chain of 2 is built up by FBBs of B 5 O 7 (OH) 2 -. Adjacent chains in 1 and 2 are further connected into a 3-D structure by K + cations and H-bonding interactions.