This paper is dedirnted to Professor Sigeru Huzinaga on the occasion of his 65th birthdayFABIO RAMONDO. Can. J. Chem. 70, 3 14 (1992).The results of ab itritio molecular orbital calculations on some nitro compounds, RN02 (R = CH,, CF,, CH,F, BH,, BF,, BHF, C6H5) and on the corresponding radical anions are reported. The geometries of the neutral and charged species were optimized at the SCF and MP2 levels of theory employing the 6-31G* and the 6-3 1 +G* basis sets. The rotation about the CN and BN bonds reveals distinct conformations for each molecule and vibrational frequencies were determined for such structures. All the employed levels of theory predict structural differences between neutral and charged molecules. The major geometrical changes occurring by electron adding to R N 0 2 consist in the lengthening of the NO bonds and in the shortening of the CN and BN bonds. The radical anions are calculated to be pyramidal at nitrogen in the stable conformers of CH,NO,-, CF3N02-, CH,FNO,-, while, for the T-electron-accepting substituents (BH,, BHF, BF,, C6H5), the anion is planar. Electron correlation energy corrections in the framework of Moiler-Plesset perturbation theory were included to determine relative stabilities between different conformations. At the MP4/6-3 1G*//MP2/ 6-31G* level, an easy rotation of the NO, group is predicted for all the radical anions and neutral molecules with the exception of BH?NO,-, BF2N02-, and BHFN0,-, which show high torsional barriers about the BN bond.