Boron Science: New Technologies and Applications

Boron has made a significant impact in our lives through its quiet use in fertilizers, fungicides, soaps, detergents, and heat-resistant glassware. Boron Science: New Technologies and Applications addresses the applications of boron in chemistry, industry, medicine, and pharmacology by explaining its role in problems such as catalysis and hydroboration as well as its use in superconductors, materials, magnetic/nonmagnetic nanoparticles, and medical applications including cancer therapy.

Illustrating the practical versatility of boron, the 29 chapters are divided into seven major sections:


Boron for Living: Medicine
Boron for Living: Health and Nutrition
Boron for Living: Radioisotope
Boron for Living: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
Boron for Electronics: Optoelectronics
Boron for Energy: Energy Storage, Space, and Other Applications
Boron for Chemistry and Catalysis: Catalysis and Organic Transformations


More than just an updated compilation of progress in the applied science of boron, this book is a tribute to the legions of workers who have spent years conducting groundbreaking studies. The book celebrates these scientists and their protégés, who together transformed boron science into the exciting and growing area it is today.

Narayan S. Hosmane was born in Gokarn, near Goa in Southern India, and is a B.S. and MS graduate of Karnatak University, India. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 1974 from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, under the supervision of Professor Evelyn Ebsworth. After a brief postdoctoral research training in Professor Frank Glockling's laboratory at the Queen's University of Belfast (1974-75), he joined the Lambeg Research Institute in Northern Ireland, and then moved to USA in 1976 to conduct research in synthetic Boron Chemistry. After a brief postdoctoral work with W. E. Hill & F. A. Johnson at Auburn University and then with Russell Grimes at the University of Virginia, in 1979 he joined the faculty at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). In 1982 he joined the faculty at Southern Methodist University, where he became Professor of Chemistry in 1989. In 1998 he moved to Northern Illinois University as a Presidential Research Professor and is currently a Distinguished Research and Board of Trustees Professor.

Dr. Hosmane is widely acknowledged to have an international reputation as "one of the world leaders in an interesting, important, and very active area of boron chemistry that is related to Cancer Research" and as "one of the most influential boron chemists practicing today." Hosmane has received numerous international awards that include but are not limited to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Senior U.S. Scientist Research Prize twice (2001 & 2007); the Boron in the USA Award for Distinguished Achievements in Boron Science (1996); the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Distinguished Chair of Chemistry at the University of Hyderabad, India (2003); and the Gauss Professorship of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences in Germany (2005). He has published over 270 papers in leading scientific journals.

Boron for Living: MedicineNew Opportunities in Boron Chemistry for Medical ApplicationsZbigniew J. LesnikowskiBioconjugates of Carbaboranyl PhosphonatesSven Stadlbauer and Evamarie Hey-HawkinsMedicinal Application of Carboranes: Inhibition of HIV ProteasePavlina Rezacova, Petr Cigler, Pavel Matejicek, Martin Lepšik, Jana Pokorna, Bohumir Gruner, and Jan KonvalinkaBoron for Living: Health and NutritionThe Role of Boron in Human Nutrition and MetabolismSamir Samman, Meika Foster, and Duncan HunterBoron for Living: RadioisotopeIsotope Incorporation Using OrganoboranesGeorge W. KabalkaBoron Cluster (Radio) Halogenation in Biomedical ResearchHitesh K. Agarwal, Sherifa Hasabelnaby, Rohit Tiwari, and Werner TjarksBoron for Living: Boron Neutron Capture TherapyRecent Developments in the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy Driven by NanotechnologyZhu Yinghuai, John A. Maguire, and Narayan S. HosmaneLiposomal Boron Delivery System for Neutron Capture Therapy of CancerHiroyuki NakamuraPolyhedral Boron Compounds for BNCTVladimir I. Bregadze and Igor B. SivaevBoron Tumor-Delivery for BNCT: Recent Developments and PerspectivesMartha Sibrian-Vazquez and Maria da Graca H. VicenteFuture Applications of Boron and Gadolinium Neutron Capture TherapyMasao Takagaki, Takanobu Tomaru, John A. Maguire, and Narayan S. HosmaneDesign and Development of Polyhedral Borane Anions for Liposomal DeliveryDebra A. FeakesBoron for Electronics: OptoelectronicsBoron Derivatives for Application in Nonlinear OpticsAndrea Voge and Detlef Gabelcloso-Boranes as Structural Elements for Liquid CrystalsPiotr KaszynskiPhotoluminescence from Boron-Based Polyhedral ClustersPaul A. JellissBoron for Energy: Energy Storage, Space and Other ApplicationsBoron Chemistry for Hydrogen StorageDavid M. SchubertOilfield Technology and Applications Involving BoratesMichael J. Greenhill-HooperInhibition of Molten Aluminum Oxidation with BoronAmitabha Mitra and David A. AtwoodRecent Progress in Extraction Agents Based on Cobalt Bis(Dicarbollides) for Partitioning of Radionuclides from High-Level Nuclear WasteB. Gruner, J. Rais, P. Selucky, and M. LucanikovaBoron-Based Nanomaterials: Technologies and ApplicationsAmartya Chakrabarti, Lauren M. Kuta, Kate J. Krise, John A. Maguire,and Narayan S. HosmaneBoron for Chemistry and Catalysis: Catalysis and Organic TransformationsConstrained-Geometry Titanacarborane Monoamides: From Synthesis and Reactivity to Catalytic ApplicationsHao Shen and Zuowei XiePhosphorus-Substituted Carbaboranes in CatalysisSebastian Bauer and Evamarie Hey-HawkinsOrganic Synthesis Using Boron and Organoboron HalidesMin-Liang Yao and George W. KabalkaCyclic Oxonium Derivatives as an Efficient Synthetic Tool for the Modification of Polyhedral Boron HydridesIgor B. Sivaev and Vladimir I. BregadzeAsymmetric Allylation of Carbonyl Compounds via OrganoboranesSubash Jonnalagadda, J. Sravan Kumar, Anthony Cirri,and Venkatram R. MereddyCarborane Clusters: Versatile Synthetic Building Blocks for Dendritic, Nanostructured and Polymeric MaterialsBarada Prasanna Dash, Rashmirekha Satapathy, John A. Maguire, and Narayan S. HosmaneLarge Molecules Containing Icosahedral Boron Clusters Designed for Potential ApplicationsRosario Nunez, Francesc Teixidor, and Clara VinasSynthetic Applications of Suzuki–Miyaura Cross Coupling ReactionSubash C. Jonnalagadda, Michael A. Corsello, Brandon R. Hetzell, and Venkatram R. MereddyBoron in Weakly Coordinating Anions and Ionic LiquidsAndrea Voge and Detlef GabelIndex