Pure Inorganics Nanomaterials: new opportunities of boron in medicine

2019 was declared International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, marking the 150th anniversary of the of discovery of the periodic system by the Russian chemist Dmitri I. Mendeleev in 1869. The periodic system continues to be fully valid, although it has gone from the 65 initial elements to 118 today. Boron is in Box 5 of period 2 (a row of the periodic system), occupying the first position in group 13 (a column of the periodic system). Though boron is very similar to its neighbour, carbon, its chemistry is much less well known. For this reason, in this article we present the research carried out in Catalonia on some compounds of this element, “the icosahedral boron clusters”. We begin by describing the chemical characteristics of the element, its origin, the simplest compounds it forms, and its use in ancient times. We then report on the chemical research into boron carried out in Barcelona from 1991 to the present. Based on the unique properties of boron and of its compounds, in 1991 we started designing and synthesizing new icosahedral boron clusters, focusing on their potential application as new materials and drugs. In the final section, we present their use in sensors and biosensors, in bone cements as X-ray contrast agents, and as anti-carcinogens.