FTIR spectra of microcrystalline
samples of 11 metal ion salt hydrates of a variety of weakly coordinating
fluoroanions are reported. The compounds studied were Li(H2O)4(Al(OC(CF3)3)4), Li(H2O)(B(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)4), Li(H2O)
n
(Ga(C2F5)4), Li(H2O)(PF6), Li2(H2O)2(TiF6), Li2(H2O)4(B12F12),
Na(H2O)(PF6), Na2(H2O)2(B12F12), K2(H2O)2(B12F12), Rb2(H2O)2(B12F12), Cs2(H2O)(B12F12), and their partially
or completely deuterated isotopologs and isotopomers. The O–D···F
hydrogen bonds in Li(HOD)(H2O)3(Al(OC(CF3)3)4) (ν(OD) = 2706 cm–1), Li(HOD)(B(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)4) (ν(OD) = 2705 cm–1), and Li(HOD)(H2O)
n
(Ga(C2F5)4) (ν(OD) = 2697 cm–1) rival
HOD absorbed in polyvinylidene difluoride (ν(OD) = 2696 cm–1) and HOD···FCH3 in a frozen
Ar matrix (ν(OD) = 2685 cm–1) for the weakest
hydrogen bonds between a water molecule and an F atom in any compound.
As weak as they are, minor differences in O–H···F
hydrogen bonds in the same fluoroanion salt can be distinguished spectroscopically.
Uncoupled HOD molecules in asymmetric F···HOD···F′ hydrogen bonding environments in Rb+, Cs+, Mg2+, and Co2+ hydrates of
B12F12
2– gave rise to two
observable ν(OD) bands even though the two R(O···F) distances differ by only 0.010(4) Å (Mg2+), 0.033(2) Å (Co2+), 0.074(4) Å (Rb+), and 0.106(6) Å (Cs+). A plot of ν(OD)
for hydrates with a single uncoupled HOD molecule per metal ion (e.g.,
Li(HOD)(H2O)3(Al(OC(CF3)3)4)) vs R(O···F) distance
from single-crystal X-ray or neutron diffraction structures was prepared.
The ν(OD) values range from 2305 to 2706 cm–1 and the R(O···F) distances range
from 2.58 to 3.17 Å. The plot consists of 53 {ν(OD), R(O···F)} data points, 23 of which are new
and have ν(OD) > 2600 cm–1, in contrast
to a 1994 ν(OD) vs R(O···F)
plot with 28 data points, none of which had ν(OD) > 2600
cm–1. There is a clear and significant difference
between the new ν(OD) vs R(O···F)
plot and a literature ν(OD) vs R(O···O)
plot for hydrates containing O–D···O hydrogen
bonds. For a given ν(OD) stretching frequency, the exponential
regression curves show that R(O···F)
is typically 0.1–0.2 Å shorter than R(O···O), in harmony with the lower basicity and smaller
size of F atoms vs O atoms.