第301回触媒化学研究センターコロキウム
Exploring the hidden potentialities of boron clusters
Research Professor Francesc Teixidor (Institut de Ciència deMaterials de Barcelona)
November 10, 2011 (Thu) 13:00-14:00
Seminar Room A, Sousei Hall, Hokkaido University（北海道大学創成科学研究棟4階セミナー室A）
http://www.cat.hokudai.ac.jp/access.html
One of the main problems that the boron scientific community faces, and very particularly the boron cluster
community, is the difficulty in convincing funding agencies that boron cluster research can be of practical utility.
Certainly it is utterly necessary that the typical subjects of applicative boron cluster research: the pacification ofnuclear waste and the boron neutron capture therapy find other research areas with which to compete, so that thepossible areas of technological application can be broadened. To accomplish this, great effort is necessary, and it is
not easy, because the origins of the low applicability of boron compounds are not well defined. Among themcertainly are the high cost of the starting materials, the small number of boron cluster research groups, the funding
difficulty, the belief that the time of boron cluster chemistry is already gone, the general conviction that boron
clusters are unstable and esoteric, and perhaps more importantly that boron cluster advocates have not beencapable of convincing other scientists and technologists of the beneficial and in some cases unique properties ofboron clusters. My exposition will deal about the progress
done in our laboratory in exploring new possibilities for boron
clusters particularly in molecular materials, as potentiometricsensors [1], in the modification of surfaces [2], as ionicliquids [3], as doping agent in polypyrrole [4], as neutron
sensors, or as vesicle forming agents [5], among others.
Besides, progress done in finding new ways to generate
Bcluster-C and Bcluster-P bonds will be described, as this is an
important impediment to design and synthesize newmolecules to explore new potentialities for the boron clusters
application. In the figure the stepwise reduction of the redox potential of [Co(C2B9H11)2]- cluster is shown upon its
stepwise dehydrochlorination. Approximately each new Bcluster-Cl produces an E1/2 reduction of 0.1V. After thesubstitution of 10 B-H’s in [Co(C2B9H11)2]- to generate [Co(C2B9H6Cl5)2]- a potential reduction from -1.31V to -0.11V
has been achieved [6]. This is a unique observation not found in electroactive redox systems of potential
technological interest such as ferrocene or fullerenes.
[1] (a) A. Stoica, C. Viñas, F. Teixidor, Chem. Commun, 2009, 4988. (b) Chem. Commun, 2008, 6492.
[2]. E.J. Juárez-Pérez, P.H. Mutin, M. Granier, F. Teixidor, R. Núñez, Langmuir, 2010, 26, 12185.
[3]. M. Nieuwenhuyzen, K.R. Seddon, F. Teixidor, A. Puga. C. Viñas, Inorg. Chem. 2009, 48, 889.
[4]. (a) C. Masalles, S. Borrós, C. Viñas, F. Teixidor, Adv. Mater. 2002, 14, 449. (b) C. Masalles, J. Llop, C. Viñas, F.
Teixidor, Adv. Mater. 2002, 14, 826.
[5]. a) P. Bauduin, S. Prevost, P. Farràs, F. Teixidor, O. Diat, T. Zemb, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 5298. b)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201105668.
[6]. P. González-Cardoso, A.-I. Stoica, P. Farrás, A. Pepiol, C. Viñas, F. Teixidor, Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16, 6660.
Contact: Visiting Professor Tatsuya Tsukuda (Catalysis Research Center)011-706-9155/tsukuda@cat.hokudai.ac.jp （連絡先：触媒化学研究センター・佃達哉）

301st Catalysis Research Center (CRC) Colloquium