Borates are the name for a large number of
boron-containing
oxyanions. The term "borates" may also refer to tetrahedral boron anions, or more loosely to
chemical compounds which contain borate
anions of either description. Larger borates are composed of
trigonal planar BO
3 or
tetrahedral BO
4 structural units, joined together via shared oxygen atoms and may be cyclic or linear in structure. Boron most often occurs in nature as borates, such as
borate minerals and
borosilicates.