NSF Award
2414550
The broader impact of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to satisfy the market demand for a chemical compound called borane. Boranes are compounds composed of boron and hydrogen atoms that are often used as catalysts or reagents. The project will produce a borane with high Lewis acidity at an affordable price level. The compound, with high thermal stability and unique chemical structure, will present new opportunities as the reactivity is better that the current boranes on the market. The catalytic reactivity will be leveraged in the polymer materials and the pharmaceutical industries. Significant in energy reductions in large scale processes as well as access to new compounds and materials will result from this project. The disciplines that may benefit from commercialization include chemistry, materials science, energy technology, and environmental sustainability.<br/><br/>The project is aimed at optimizing the synthesis of tris(ortho-carboranyl)borane and scaling up production to the kilogram quantity to enable distribution. The current problems with production of this compound are the low yield in the synthesis, unoptimized work up, and need for specialized equipment to handle moisture sensitive compounds. The research will optimize the synthesis and develop methods to handle the compound without a glovebox or Schlenk line. The approach to solve the latter will be through reaction optimization in exploring all reagents and solvent combinations, conditions, and isolation methods to achieve a safe scalable synthesis founded on manufacturing costs. With many variables, there are many opportunities to improve the method and minimize waste from the current synthesis. Packing and distribution are not an issue for customers with inert atmosphere devices as the compound is a free-flowing solid. However, tris(ortho-carboranyl)borane is sensitive to moisture and thus, alternatives to handling the bulk powder need to be developed in distribution and packaging. The overarching goals are to develop the process and access of tris(ortho-carboranyl)borane to enable a broad customer base to access it at an affordable price.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
