High Valent Mercury Fluoride Ions

Abstract

Mercury fluoride ions formed during the laser ablation of HgF2(s) show the formation of six different cluster ion series viz., HgFn±, HgnFn–2±, HgnFn–1±, (HgF)n±, HgnFn+1±, and HgnFn+2±. Among the different ion series, the observation of high valent HgFn±(n±=3,4; n−=6–8) indicates the existence of corresponding molecules which signify the remarkable participation of 5d Hg electrons in the chemical bonding with F atoms and thus make Hg a truly transition metal. Further, molecular orbital calculations show a large HOMO‐LUMO energy gap (≥3 eV) and high electron affinity (≥5 eV) that indicates highly stable HgFn=3,4,6,8 with super halogen properties.