Ammonia Triborane: A Promising New Candidate for Amineborane-Based Chemical Hydrogen Storage

Because of their high hydrogen densities, boron based com-pounds, including especially sodium borohydride (NaBH4)1 and ammonia borane (NH3BH3),2 are now being intensely investigated as chemical hydrogen storage materials that can release hydrogen by hydrolytic processes (eqs 1-2). The high hydrogen release capacity that could potentially be achieved by ammonia triborane, NH3B3H7, (1) oxidative-hydrolysis (eq 3) should likewise make it an attractive candidate for chemical hydrogen storage. But, owing to the lack of a suitable method for its efficient synthesis, there have been no previous explorations of the chemical hydrogen storage properties of this compound. We report here both a convenient and safe method for the synthesis of ammonia triborane and our initial studies of its hydrolytic hydrogen-release properties that indicate it is a promising new material for chemical hydrogen storage applications