hypho-borane

chemical compound

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June 29, 2026

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The term "hypho-borane" refers to a classification of borane structures. Boranes are compounds composed of boron and hydrogen. In the nomenclature system for boranes, "hypho-" describes the most open cluster structures, where the boron atoms occupy n corners of an (n + 3)-cornered polyhedron, indicating a significant number of missing vertices compared to a closed structure. These hypho-structures are currently known only as derivatives of boranes, not as isolated compounds. The study of boranes, including their complex polyhedral structures and bonding, has been significant in understanding chemical bonding and has led to Nobel Prizes for chemists like Alfred Stock, William Nunn Lipscomb, Jr., and Herbert Charles Brown.1

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borane
Structure and bonding of boranes
…with two missing vertices; (4) hypho- (Greek, meaning “to weave” or “a net”), the most open clusters, with boron atoms occupying n corners of an (n + 3)-cornered closo-polyhedron; and (5) klado- (Greek, meaning “branch”), n vertices of an n + 4-vertex closo-polyhedron occupied by n boron atoms. Members of…
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…with two missing vertices; (4) hypho- (Greek, meaning “to weave” or “a net”), the most open clusters, with boron atoms occupying n corners of an (n + 3)-cornered closo-polyhedron; and (5) klado- (Greek, meaning “branch”), n vertices of an n + 4-vertex closo-polyhedron occupied by n boron atoms. Members of…
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