Abstract: The present development state of organic borates as a friction-reduction and antiwear oil additive was introduced in this paper, on the basis of expounding its kind and molecular structure, the relationship between tribological characteristics and molecular structure, the effects of elemental sulfur and chlorine on the tribological properties were also reviewed, and then the antiwear mechanism and failure of organic borates were studied. Finally the authors proposed the main direction of research and tentative ideas in this domain.