How many valence electrons does boron have?

Unlike its group 13 neighbors, boron exhibits behaviors and forms compounds that are not quite metallic and yet not fully nonmetallic.

Elemental boron is rare and poorly studied because the pure material is extremely difficult to prepare. Most studies of "boron" involve samples that contain small amounts of carbon.

Boron is a nonmetallic element and the only nonmetal element in group 13 of the periodic table elements. Boron is electron-deficient, possessing a vacant p-orbital.