What is the formal charge on each atom in the tetrahydridoborate ion?

1 Answer
anor277
Mar 26, 2018

Well, we normally represent sodium borohydride as Na^+BH_4^-...

Explanation:

...and since this is clearly NEUTRAL...we split the salt up in to Na^+ and BH_4^(-) ions....

...for the tetrahedral borohydride ion....there are 4xxB-H bonds....each hydrogen atom is associated with ONE electron, and is therefore neutral. On the other hand, the boron atom get 4 electrons from the B-H bonds, and there are two inner core electrons....six electrons in total. Since for boron, Z=5, given 5 nucular charges, and SIX electronic charges....the boron atom has a formal negative charge.

Borohydrides ACT as hydride transfer reagents in their reaction chemistry....i.e. BH_4^(-)-=BH_3 + H^-...they tend to be a bit milder reagents than aluminum hydrides...salts of AlH_4^(-)...

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