NMR studies of borates and borides

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been employed for some 25 years to study the structure of boron-containing compounds.^1-3 The earliest works employed the ¹¹B nuclear isotope in a study of glasses containing boron oxide. Many additional NMR studies^3-10 of boron-containing glasses have utilized both the ¹¹B and ¹⁰B isotopes. Crystalline materials were also studied^2,3 at an early date, with particular attention given to borides and boron carbide.

After a discussion of the features of NMR spectroscopy particularly pertinent for the study of boron-containing compounds, highlights of the early work and more recent studies will be summarized to indicate the usefulness of ¹⁰B and ¹¹B NMR for structural studies.