Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Ammonia borane (NH3BH3) is a molecular solid with a high volumetric and gravimetric density of hydrogen. We report room temperature structural data which shows how the freely rotating NH3 and BH3 groups allow a N-H…H-B dihydrogen bond in which hydrogen atoms on adjacent molecules are separated by only 1.90Å. The initial decomposition of ammonia borane at 80-100°C into (NH2BH2)n and H2 has been studied by in-situ nmr spectroscopy and kinetic studies using isotopic substitution. The reaction proceeds by a bimolecular pathway involving a [NH3BH2NH3]+BH4− intermediate with an activation energy of 136kJmol−1.