Elements Magazine Past Issues

Fifth in the periodic table, boron is a “light” element whose origin has puzzled astronomers because it is not created in stars. It is “lively”, being an essential element for plants, and having medicinal properties, which has stimulated synthesis of organic compounds containing boron. Borates such as colemanite are thought by some to have stabilized ribose, an essential component of ribonucleic acid and critical for the self-assembly of prebiotic organic compounds to constitute life; others have proposed that ribose was stabilized by borate in solution. Boron isotopes provide insight on the processes responsible for the creation of continental crust, and act as a proxy for paleoclimate. Extreme concentrations of boron result in economic evaporitic deposits, and, thus, water-soluble boron minerals, notably borax, have been among the most accessible of useful compounds to humankind, even in antiquity.