In the first step, borane (BH3) adds to the double bond, transferring one of the hydrogen atoms to the carbon adjacent to the one that becomes bonded to the boron. This hydroboration is repeated two additional times, successively reacting each B–H bond so that three alkenes add to each BH3. The resulting trialkylborane is treated with hydrogen peroxide in the second step. This process replaces the B-C bonds with HO-C bonds. The boron reagent is converted to boric acid. The reaction was originally described by H.C. Brown in 1957 for the conversion of 1-hexene into 1-hexanol.