Potassium tetraphenylborate is the salt with the formula KB(C6H5)4). It is a colourless salt that is a rare example of a water-insoluble salt of potassium.
The salt has a low solubility in water of only 1.8×10−4 g/L. It is, however, soluble in organic solvents. The insolubility of this compound has been used to determine the concentration of potassium ions by precipitation and gravimetric analysis:
K+ + NaB(Ph)4 → KB(Ph)4 + Na+
The compound adopts a polymeric structure with bonds between the phenyl rings and potassium. As such it is classified as an organopotassium compound.Ulrich Behrens, Frank Hoffmann, and Falk Olbrich "Solid-State Structures of Base-Free Lithium and Sodium Tetraphenylborates at Room and Low Temperature: Comparison with the Higher Homologues MB(C6H5)4 (M = K, Rb, Cs)" Organometallics 2012, volume 31, p. 905−913.
References
External links Potassium tetraphenylborate Jmol Page