The carbothermal reduction of boron oxide (B 2 O 3) is an important process for the synthesis of boride powders. As a low-temperature synthesis method for boron carbide (B 4 C) powder by carbothermal reduction, we focused on an approach using a condensed product prepared from boric acid (H 3 BO 3) and an organic compound with a number of hydroxyl groups (a polyol) such as glycerin, mannitol, or poly(vinyl alcohol). A borate ester bond was formed by the dehydration condensation of H 3 BO 3 and a polyol, leading to the homogeneous dispersion of the boron and carbon sources at the molecular level. The thermal decomposition of a condensed H 3 BO 3-polyol product in air was performed to control the amount of carbon to the stoichiometric C/B 2 O 3 ratio required for carbothermal reduction. Within the thermally decomposed product consisting of B 2 O 3 and carbon components (B 4 C precursor), a B 2 O 3 /carbon structure at the nanometer scale was formed. The improved dispersibility and homogeneity of the B 2 O 3 /carbon microstructure accelerated the B 4 C formation at a lower temperature. Consequently, crystalline B 4 C powder with little free carbon was synthesized by heat treatment at a low temperature of 1200°C in an Ar flow. This low-temperature synthesis approach was applied to the lowtemperature synthesis of other boride powders, i.e., boron nitride and calcium hexaboride powders.