The borohydride anion is susceptible to reaction with even weak acids, resulting protonolysis of one or more B-H bonds.
For the alkyls of very electropositive metals (zinc, magnesium, and lithium), water is sufficiently acidic, in which case the reaction is called hydrolysis.
Protonolysis with mineral acids is sometimes used to remove organic ligands from a metal center.
[2] Inorganic materials with highly charged anions are often susceptible to protonolysis.
Derivatives of nitride (N3−), phosphides (P3−), and silicides (Si4−) hydrolyze to give ammonia, phosphine, and silane.