Unsupported and silica-supported amorphous metal-boron materials (Ni-B, Mo-O-B, and Ni-Mo-O-B) were prepared by NaBH4 reduction of aqueous or impregnated metal salts. The resulting materials were characterized by a range of techniques, including conventional and time-resolved X-ray diffraction. The latter technique was used to determine the onset of crystallization of the amorphous materials during annealing in He flow and to identify the phases formed. Annealing of unsupported Ni-B resulted in the crystallization of predominantly Ni3B, followed by Ni metal, whereas Ni-B/SiO2 formed Ni and then NiO. There was no evidence for crystallization of B-containing phases for Mo-O-B or Mo-O-B/SiO2 on annealing; instead, the predominant phase formed was MoO2. In general, the phases formed for Ni-Mo-O-B and Ni-Mo-O-B/SiO2 were consistent with those formed in the monometallic materials, but at higher annealing temperatures. Catalysts prepared by sulfiding Ni-B/SiO2 and Ni-MoO-B/SiO2 materials had significantly higher thiophene HDS activities than conventionally prepared sulfided Ni/SiO2 and Ni-Mo/SiO2 catalysts, whereas a sulfided Mo-O-B/SiO2 catalyst had a dramatically lower HDS activity than a sulfided MO/SiO2 catalyst. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.