Fifty years of the closo-decaborate anion chemistry

The review covers the fifty-year period of chemistry of the closo -decaborate anion [B 10 H 10 ] 2– from the first report by Hawthorne and Pitochelli. The main attention is paid to reactions of substitution of various atoms and groups for hydrogen atoms. The general stability of the closo -decaborate cage, including its protonation, cage-opening and cage oxidation reactions, is considered as well. A review with 242 references.