[1] Hawthorne and Pitochelli first made it 5 years later, by the reaction of 2-iododecaborane with triethylamine in benzene solution at 80 °C.

Salts of the dodecaborate ion are stable in air and do not react with hot aqueous sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid.

[5] The hydrogen atoms in the ion [B12H12]2− can be replaced by the halogens with various degrees of substitution.

[citation needed] Under kilobar pressure of carbon monoxide [B12H12]2− reacts to form the carbonyl derivatives [B12H11CO]− and the 1,12- and 1,7-isomers of B12H10(CO)2.

They form "closomers", which have been used to make nontargeted high-performance MRI contrast agents which are persistent in tumor tissue.