In recent years, salts of the hydridotricyanoborate anion
[BH(CN)3]− (MHB) have become
readily available. In spite of the unusually high stability of the MHB anion, it can be used as a valuable starting material
for the preparation of selected tricyanoborates, for example, the
boron-centered nucleophile B(CN)3
2–.
A further unprecedented example is the hydroxytricyanoborate anion
[B(OH)(CN)3]− that is accessible by oxidation
of (H3O)MHB with elemental bromine in water.
The Brønsted acid (H3O)[B(OH)(CN)3] was
isolated as a crystalline solid. It serves as a versatile starting
material for the synthesis of coordination compounds, metal salts,
and ionic liquids. The [B(OH)(CN)3]− anion
shows a rich coordination chemistry and a high tendency to form hydrogen-bonded
motifs as demonstrated by a series of salts with different types of
cations. Furthermore, the [B(OH)(CN)3]− anion itself serves as starting material for new tricyanoborates
such as the unusual trianion [B{OB(CN)3}3]3– and the silylated anions [B(OSiR3)(CN)3]− (R = Me, Et, Ph). Some of these follow-up
products have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction,
e.g., [nBu4N]3[B{OB(CN)3}3] and [nBu4N][B(OSiPh3)(CN)3].