> When neutralized NaBH4 yields boric acid or its salt. I seem to recall   
   > that boric acid reacts with a diol to yield a cyclic compound or worse a   
   > polymer. E.g. see:   
   >   
   > Crosslinking Mechanism of Boric Acid with Diols Revisited   
   >   
   > Marcel Rietjens1,2 and   
   > Peter A. Steenbergen1,3   
   > European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry   
   > Volume 2005, Issue 6,  pages 1162-1174, March 2005   
   >   
   >   
   > In my opinion your work up is based upon too much hope and not enough   
   > skepticism. I think a more conventional work up would entail transfer of   
   > product between aqueous phase and an immiscible organic phase. Don't you   
   > think it would be wise to consult an organic lab manual or prior   
   > literature in addition to this usenet group?   
      
   Thinking about my procedure I don't think I could evaporate the solvent   
   very much since some of the borax would precipitate out as well. I don't   
   think I need to use Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) techniques for this.   
      
   I'm sure if I had a Chem degree it would be helpful. I have read in a Chem   
   Journal that this reaction works but the Journal didn't give as much detail   
   as I need. I thought it might require a lot of study and digging to find   
   helpful   
   information so I thought I would post some questions here and responses have   
   been helpful. I do plan to potentially do some research but I'm just starting   
   to get my feet under me and it may take years from the sounds of it but I do   
   appreciate the constructive criticism.   
      
   Brock   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)