Boranes show an intriguing structural variety; notably, in order to reduce their electron deficiency they form nonclassical multicenter bonds and adopt cluster structures. Structural relationships among borane clusters were realized after an increasing number of structures had became known. Wades rule [1] allows (hetero) boranes to be classified according to their number of skeletal electrons, and the shape of the corresponding cluster framework to be determined. Closo, nido, arachno, and hypho are used to label compounds with 2n þ 2, 2n þ 4, 2n þ 6, and 2n þ 8 skeletal electrons, respectively, where n equals the number of cluster atoms. Closo compounds adopt the most spherical deltahedral structures -that is, polyhedra with only trigonal faces. Nido, arachno, and hypho compounds have polyhedral structures in which one, two or three vertices of the corresponding closo deltahedra remain unoccupied. Examples of these are shown in Scheme 25.1.In heteroboranes, one or more boron atoms are replaced by heteroatoms such as C, N, and S. While the cluster type may be derived from the number of skeletal electrons, the placement of heteroatoms allows for various possible isomers. The preferred sites for heteroatom placement were derived from the arrangements found for structurally characterized compounds. For example, the most stable carborane isomer has carbon atoms at low coordinate sites and in nonadjacent positions [2,3]. Other disfavored arrangements, for example, endo terminal rather than bridging hydrogen atoms, were also identified. However, in general, not all of these may be avoided at the same time for a given formula. So, the question arises: Which structural conflict(s) may be tolerated best? Clearly, values are needed to specify the severity of the violation of a particular structural rule, and only if such quantitative rules are available can the best -that is, the thermodynamically most stable -structure be predicted, both easily and reliably. The derivation of meaningful energy penalties for important unfavorable structural features in heteroboranes, and how they may be applied, are described in the following subsections.Modeling of Molecular Properties, First Edition. Edited by Peter Comba.