Chemical formula: NaBH4

Molecular weight: 37.83 

CAS registration number: 16940-66-2

Melting point: 400 ℃

Boiling point: 500 ℃ (decomposition)

Water solubility: 550 g/L (25 ºC)

Density: 1.07 g/cm³

Appearance: white to off-white crystalline powder

Flash point: 70°C

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Sodium borohydride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NaBH4. It is a white to off-white crystalline powder with strong hygroscopicity. Its alkaline solution is brown-yellow. It is one of the most commonly used reducing agents. It is soluble in water, liquid ammonia, and amines, easily soluble in methanol, slightly soluble in ethanol and tetrahydrofuran, and insoluble in ether, benzene, and hydrocarbons. It is stable in dry air, decomposes in wet air, and also decomposes when heated to 500℃. Normally, sodium borohydride cannot reduce esters, amides, carboxylic acids and nitrile compounds, but when there is a heteroatom at the α position of the carbonyl group of the ester, the ester can be reduced. It is usually used as a reducing agent for aldehydes, ketones, and acyl chlorides, a foaming agent in the plastics industry, a papermaking bleaching agent, and a hydrogenating agent for the manufacture of dihydrostreptomycin in the pharmaceutical industry.

PRODUCT USES

Sodium borohydride can be used as a reducing agent for aldehydes, ketones and acyl chlorides, an intermediate for the manufacture of potassium borohydride, a raw material for the manufacture of diborane and other high-energy fuels, a foaming agent in the plastics industry, a treatment agent for mercury-containing wastewater in the papermaking industry, a papermaking bleaching agent, and a hydrogenating agent for the manufacture of dihydrostreptomycin in the pharmaceutical industry. The hydrogen of sodium borohydride shows a -1 valence here, has a strong reducing property, and can reduce inorganic substances with a certain oxidizing property. It is mainly used in organic synthesis to reduce -COOH to -CH2OH, and is called a "universal reducing agent". It has stable performance and is selective during reduction. Sodium borohydride can be used as a reducing agent for chemical plating of non-ferrous metals, among which the most important application is chemical nickel plating. The most commonly used reducing agent for chemical nickel plating is sodium hypophosphite. The nickel plated using this reducing agent is mainly nickel-phosphorus alloy.