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Pentaborane
Pentaborane (B5H9) was considered as a high performance fuel in the US in the 1950's. Its development was pursued with some vigor by Glushko in Russia during the 1960's. But like the other fluorine and boron motors of the time, it presented too many handling and safety problems to be adopted as a flight engine.

Pentaborane is a colorless, mobile liquid. It exhibits a disagreeable odor and is an extremely toxic propellant. In the presence of water, B5H9 is much more stable than diborane. Pentaborane, if pure, is not spontaneously flammable in air. However, minor concentrations of impurities cause it to be spontaneously flammable in air. Prolonged storage for several years at room temperature reveal only negligible decomposition of pentaborane with the formation of hydrogen and solid residue. It shows good solubility in hydrocarbons, cyclohexane, and benzene.

Pentaborane is produced by the pyrolysis of diborane; the conversion is not a clean-cut reaction.

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