Synthesis of Aminodiborane through the Reaction of Ammonia Borane with Acids

Abstract

A facile method for the synthesis of aminodiborane (NH₂B₂H₅, ADB) has been developed through the reaction of ammonia borane (NH₃BH₃, AB) with an ether solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl·Et₂O) at room temperature. In addition, N-alkyl substituted ADB derivatives were synthesized by reacting N-alkyl substituted AB with HCl·Et₂O at 50 °C. The mechanistic studies indicated that the nucleophilic substitution reaction of the B-H bonding pair electrons and the dihydrogen bonding interaction play an important role. This work paves an alternative way to prepare amine borane compounds.