Evaluation of the binding of polyhedral borane anions to representative proteins

The ability of three polyhedral borane anions, [B20H18](2-), [B20H17SH](4-), and [B20H19](3-), to bind to proteins was evaluated by measuring the total boron content using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy after purification by gel electrophoresis. Results were correlated to the known chemical reactivity of the compounds as well as the reported murine biodistributions of the liposomally encapsulated sodium salts of each of the polyhedral borane anions. Qualitative reactions were performed with the [B20H18](2-) anion to determine the potential reactivity with simple molecular building blocks.