Boron trichloride
chemical compound
Boron trichloride is the inorganic compound with the formula BCl3. This colorless gas is a reagent in organic synthesis. It is highly reactive towards water.
Production and structure
Boron reacts with halogens to give the corresponding trihalides. Boron trichloride is, however, produced industrially by chlorination of boron oxide and carbon at 501 °C.
B2O3 + 3 C + 3 Cl2 → 2 BCl3 + 3 CO
The carbothermic reaction is analogous to the Kroll process for the conversion of titanium dioxide to titanium tetrachloride. One consequence of this synthesis route is that samples of boron trichloride are often contaminated with phosgene.
In the laboratory BCl3 can be prepared by treating with AlCl3 with BF3, a halide exchange reaction.
BCl3 is a trigonal planar molecule like the other boron trihalides. The B–Cl bond length is 175 pm. A degree of π-bonding has been proposed to explain the short B− Cl distance, although there is some debate as to its extent.
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