Boranes Made Simple

Boranes are compounds composed of Boron and Hydrogen, in this regard they are similar to hydrocarbons. However, unlike hydrocarbons they do not occur naturally hence they are synthetic substances. Their chemical formulas can be expressed as BxHy. On the surface unlike hydrocarbons, they appear formidable and complex. The discovery of the skeletal numbers in cluster theory makes it possible to analyze the chemical clusters of Boron. The skeletal number of Boron was found to be k=2.5 and its valency which is given by V=2k was found to be equal to 5, and this makes it possible to construct isomeric shapes of Boranes. Boranes like all other clusters obey the natural law of cluster number K being a whole number, this book provides a selected range of Boranes and Heteroboranes analyzed and categorized, and their corresponding isomeric structures have been constructed where possible. The skeletal valency is extremely important in the construction of isomeric structures, in this regard each nodal point where Boron is found, there will be five linkages or connections.