Patent ID: 7405183

Claim:
A method of forming a viscosified treatment fluid comprising: providing a treatment fluid that comprises water and a gelling agent; contacting the treatment fluid with a boronic acid crosslinking agent so as to form a reversibly crosslinked gelling agent, wherein the boronic acid crosslinking agent comprises a compound having the formula: wherein X can be a Lewis base; R 1 , R 4 , and R 5 are selected from the group consisting of: heteroatoms, organic fragments, or combinations thereof, wherein R 1 , R 4 , and R 5 can be the same or different; R 2 is selected from the group consisting of an aryl group, a polyether and a spacer group; R, R′, and R 3 are selected from the group consisting of: hydrogens, alkyl groups, aryl groups, or combinations thereof, wherein R, R′, and R 3 can be the same or different; —B(OR 3 ) 2 can be a boronic acid group; and n is a positive integer greater than or equal to one.