A Simple and Efficient Way to Directly Synthesize Unsolvated Alkali Metal (M = Na, K) Salts of [CB11H12]−

Alkali metal (M = Na, K) salts of the [CB11H12]− anion have attracted increasing attention in many fields such as catalysis and all-solid-state batteries. However, tedious low-yielding synthetic methods seriously limited their application these fields. We developed a facile method for direct synthesis unsolvated potassium sodium 66% 68% yields, respectively, by reactions Na[B11H14] with NaH/NaHMDS (sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide), CF3SiMe3 THF K[B11H14] KH, DME. This avoids exchange cation significantly simplifies reaction setup, thus enabling convenient large-scale synthesis. It is believed that this will support further Na[CB11H12] K[CB11H12] solid electrolytes an battery.