The material has been of interest as a component of "high-tech" glasses and as a reagent for preparing organosulfur compounds.
Like the sulfides of silicon and phosphorus, B2S3 reacts with traces of water, including atmospheric moisture to release H2S.
[3] An early synthesis involved the reaction of iron and manganese borides with hydrogen sulfide at temperatures of 300 °C.
The conversion is shown for the monoborides in the following idealized equation:[4] The first synthesis was done by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1824 by direct reaction of amorphous boron with sulfur vapor.
[5] Another synthesis was favoured by Friedrich Wöhler and Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville first published in 1858, starting from boron and hydrogen sulfide.