Ruthenium(0) nanoparticle-catalyzed isotope exchange between 10B and 11B nuclei in decaborane(14).

Well dispersed ruthenium(0) nanoparticles, stabilized in the ionic liquid agent, trihexyltetradecylphosphonium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, have been successfully prepared via a reduction reaction of the precursor [CpRuCp*RuCp*]PF6 (Cp* = C5Me5). The ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were shown to catalyze the isotope exchange reaction between 10B enriched diborane and natural abundant B10H14 to produce highly 10B enriched (approximately 90%) decaborane(14) products. The ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, XRD, and XPS. The 10B enriched decaborane(14) has been analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, NMR, and high-resolution MS.