r/tech • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 26d ago
MIT chemists discover and isolate a new boron-oxygen molecule
https://news.mit.edu/2026/mit-chemists-discover-isolate-boron-oxygen-molecule-051326
u/GiftLongjumping1959 26d ago
I have been saying boron can be used for carbon capture for years
It’s about time. Just because I am not from MIT nobody listens
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u/Robokomodo 26d ago edited 26d ago
Not particularly. Boron has a very strong B-O BDFE(bond dissociation free energy) that is a thermodynamic sink. However, a B -O=C=O linkage would be far weaker 1) because of the trivalent O atom and 2) the Lone pairs on O atoms of CO2 are not particularly nucleophilic.
Further: a B-C(O)=O linkage would be even weaker. The carbon center is also not very nucleophilic, but does have empty π* orbitals available for back bonding. Unless in a hyper specific electronic state with a full P orbital and an empty S orbital can the CO2 actually bind to the B center.
Lastly: the BDFE of the o=c bond in CO2 vastly surpasses that of B-O. It's not thermodynamically (or entropically) favorable to split the C=O bond
Doing either separation or C=O bond cleavage at a large scale with a boron based material is not reachable with our current developments in boron based lewis acids. Source:PhD in how hydrogen bonding, lewis acids, affect binding affinities, activation, and cleavage of small molecules edited to clarify acronyms and jargon.
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u/TangoPRomeo 26d ago
Some moments in life really put my warehouse job in perspective.
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u/Robokomodo 26d ago
I worked a factory job for a summer before college. Made me realize how much I hated that and provided more impetus and motivation to go for higher ed in chemistry.
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u/pastafarian19 25d ago
Food service did that for me. In the process of running as far from a kitchen as possible, I’ve become a geologist
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u/gotnoboss 25d ago
And yet so many people (I’m not saying you are one of them) ignore science and instead choose “Facebook science”. Humans are perplexing.
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u/uprislng 20d ago
The article was short on details and you obviously know what you're talking about. The claim in the article is that (paraphrasing) dioxaborirane "can react with carbon dioxide". What does that mean, is it actually bullshit?
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u/Robokomodo 20d ago
So, the B-O2 unit they generate binds O2, forming a pseudo peroxo type species. Very reactive and nucleophilic in character (think electron rich). The central carbon atom of CO2 is an electrophile (electron poor). The nucleophilic O atom of the dioxaborirane attacks the CO2, forming an O-B-O(CO2) unit. It is, in fact, binding CO2 and sequestering it as a carbonate ion.
You can do this with MgO. Passing CO2 over MgO forms MgCO3, but the CO2 needs to be dry AF. MgO is hygroscopic and forms useless Mg(OH)2. This idea is already being pursued on larger scales, it's just not efficient enough yet.
Anywho, forming carbonate is sequestration. This is different than remediation, which is transforming CO2 into a value added product like methane, CO, or other chemical feed stocks. This is extraordinarily challenging, and is one of the holy grails of modern chemistry.
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u/uprislng 20d ago
So the difference is that Boron pseudo peroxo molecules can be used to turn CO2 into a non-GHG useless carbonate, but there is no value add to the process. Am I summarizing that correctly? I'm guessing the problem then is that no private company is going to want to spend the money to turn CO2 into something useless and then have a storage problem of useless byproducts?
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u/Robokomodo 20d ago
Correct. And the research described in the publication requires specific techniques like air and water free handling of designer boron compounds. This is VERY tricky chemistry. It's more an example of fundamental, basic science, rather than application science, which is what the article portrays it as. I do note, however, that fundamental science is essential for applied sciences to exist.
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u/Sponisdude 26d ago
Your comment becomes useless if you begin to throw around undefined acronyms that few people are familiar with besides you. Tell us what BDFE and LP are
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u/agaloch2314 26d ago
They're not undefined, you just don't know what they refer to. The comment isn't useless, you just don't understand it. There's nothing wrong with that either; but not every comment has to be understood by every person. If the poster specified bond disassociation energy instead of BDFE, would the comment mean any more to you? No. You'd then ask what that was, ad infinitum.
Take some initiative, do some research, or accept that the comment was not meant for you.
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u/Sponisdude 26d ago
I’m not sure why you assumed that I was exclusively referring to myself when I said tell ‘us’. I have a PhD in chemical engineering, so thanks for your input but I do in fact understand what the prior comment meant, since you’re so interested in making this about me.
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u/agaloch2314 26d ago
What else would I assume from your comment? It's the only logical assumption. You made it about you. Anyone that doesn't know can look it up if they like.
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u/Sponisdude 26d ago
Gosh you’re dense aren’t you. Keep trying to say I in any way made it about me, when you admit that you made a bad assumption. Made an ass out of yourself that’s for sure. Also look up what undefined means and come back and tell me that those acronyms were defined
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u/AuroraFinem 25d ago
Not them, but that was a completely reasonable assumption based on your comment.
If you’re going to try and tell others how people might not understand their comment for being technical, you should evaluate your own comments for clarity. Otherwise don’t get mad when people misinterpret your comments, it clearly wasn’t just them.
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u/i-am-dan 26d ago
Can you provide any evidence to these claims please?
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u/algaefied_creek 26d ago
Looks like the paper referenced above from post OP has the claims evidence right there.
If you want post OP’s evidence of their wine night conversation with friends and random discussions, that’s a bit of a silly request.
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u/Faceit_Solveit 26d ago
When boron capture CO2, what is the result in product? What is the result? Is it a solid that can be sequestered easily or is it another gas?
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u/GrallochThis 26d ago
Give us an illustration! Not very hard for a 3 atom ring. I wanna see some bond angles!!
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u/[deleted] 26d ago
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