boron

Also known as B, element 5, boracium, ₅B

Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three valence electrons for forming covalent bonds, resulting in many compounds such as boric acid, the mineral sodium borate, and the ultra-hard crystals of boron carbide and boron nitride.

OverviewAI-generated

Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. Its electron configuration is [He] 2s² 2p¹. The element has a mass of 10.81 and an electronegativity of 2. It typically exhibits an oxidation state of 3.

The substance has a density of 2080, a melting point of 2180, and a boiling point of 4000. Its ultimate tensile strength is 5700. Boron was discovered on 1808-06-30 and again in 1892. The canonical SMILES representation is [B], and the Unicode character is 硼.

In chemical databases, boron is identified by CID 5462311 and InChIKey ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N. It has a topological polar surface area of 0, with no hydrogen bond donors or acceptors. The element is referenced by 1,778 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubChem, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Chemical data

Formula: B
Molecular weight: 10.81 g/mol
IUPAC name: boron
SMILES: [B]
InChIKey: ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Polar surface area: 0 Å²
H-bond donors: 0
H-bond acceptors: 0
Formal charge: 0

via PubChem

Research

52,856 papers

Next generation of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents for cancer treatment.ReviewMedicinal research reviews · 2023Coghi P, Li J, Hosmane NS et al.DOI: 10.1002/med.21964
Boron in cancer therapeutics: An overview.ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics · 2023Kulkarni S, Bhandary D, Singh Y et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2023.108548
Boron-containing carbonic anhydrases inhibitors.ReviewBioorganic chemistry · 2024Giovannuzzi S, Nikitjuka A, Pereira Resende BR et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106976
Boron Chemistry for Medical Applications.ReviewMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Ali F, S Hosmane N, Zhu YDOI: 10.3390/molecules25040828
Boron enabled bioconjugation chemistries.ReviewChemical Society reviews · 2024Zheng M, Kong L, Gao JDOI: 10.1039/d4cs00750f
Boron.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Nielsen FH, Eckhert CDDOI: 10.1093/advances/nmz110
Stimuli-Responsive Boron-Based Materials in Drug Delivery.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Das BC, Chokkalingam P, Masilamani P et al.DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032757
Boron enhances adaptive responses and biological performance via hormetic mechanisms.ReviewChemico-biological interactions · 2023Calabrese E, Pressman P, Agathokleous E et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110432

via PubMed

~48 min read

Encyclopedic overview

49 sections

Contents

History
Characteristics of the element
Isotopes
NMR spectroscopy
Allotropes
Atomic structure
Chemistry of the element
Preparation
Reactions of the element
Chemical compounds
General trends
Halides
Oxide derivatives
Hydrides
Organoboron compounds
Nitrides
Carbides
Borides
Occurrence
Production
Market trend
Applications
Boronated fiberglass
Borosilicate glass
Elemental boron fiber
Boron carbide ceramic
High-hardness and abrasive compounds
Metallurgy
Detergent formulations and bleaching agents
Insecticides and antifungals
Semiconductors
Magnets
Shielding and neutron absorber in nuclear reactors
Other nonmedical uses
Pharmaceutical and biological applications
Research
MgB<sub>2</sub>
Radiation-hardened semiconductors
Proton-boron fusion
Enriched boron (boron-10)
Nuclear fusion
Neutron capture therapy
Biological role
In human health
Health issues and toxicity
See also
Notes
References
External links

Boron is synthesized entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovas and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, so it is a low-abundance element in the Solar System and in the Earth's crust. It constitutes about 0.001 percent by weight of Earth's crust. It is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds, the borate minerals. These are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “boron” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.