Boron fullerenes proposed

Imitation of carbon fullerenes In an analogy to carbon fullerenes, Lipscomb and co-workers proposed boron fullerenes as large closo boron hydride based on Descartes-Euler formula P + F=E- -2 P for vertices, Ffor faces. 

Proposed New Materials Boron Fullerenes, Nanotubes, and Nanotori... 

We have shown how a simple idea, the Descartes-Euler formula, defines the boron fullerenes as the geometrical duals of the carbon fullerenes. As the carbon fullerenes are actually existing molecules, the Descartes-Euler formula is immediately suggestive of the possible existence of their boron duals. This is confirmed by quantum chemical molecular orbital calculations which indicate considerable stability for boron flillerene cage and multi-cage geometries. Therefore we encourage attempts at the synthesis of these proposed compounds. 

Gindulyte, A. Lipscomb, W.N. Massa, L. (1998). Proposed Boron Nanotubes. Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 37, No. 25, (December 1998), pp. 6544-6545, ISSN 0020-1669 Gindulyte, A. Krishnamachari, N. Lipscomb, W.N. Massa, L. (1998). Quantum Chemical Calculations of Propwsed Multicage Boron Fullerenes. Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 37, No. 25, (December 1998), pp. 6546-6548, ISSN 0020-1669 Golberg, D. Bando, Y. Sato, T. Grobert, N. Reyes-Reyes, M. Terrones, H. Terrones, M. 

There is mass spectroscopic evidence for clusters C59B, C68B2,. ..C54 B6 in the products of laser ablation of boron nitride/graphite composites (Guo et al. 1991). It is proposed that these may be versions of the fullerene cage in which heteroatoms have occupied carbon sites with little disturbance of the framework. This is a plausible hypothesis for low doping ratios, in view of the ability of carbon to substitute for boron in carboranes. Bond-energy considerations suggest that... 

---