Synthesis Method of Unsolvated Organic Derivatives of Metal Borohydrides

A new, scalable, wet-chemistry single-pot method of synthesising pure unsolvated organic derivatives of metal borohydrides is presented. The metathetic reaction in a weakly coordinating solvent is exemplified by the synthesis of [(n-C(4)H(9))(4)N][Y(BH(4))(4)] and [Ph(4)P][Y(BH(4))(4)] systems. For the latter compound, the crystal structure was solved and described. Organic borohydride salts obtained by the new method can find various applications, e.g., can be used as precursors in synthesis of hydrogen-rich mixed-metal borohydrides—promising materials for solid-state chemical storage of hydrogen.