Vibrational spectra of solvated and coordinated trifl uoromethanesulfonate ion in dipolar aprotic solvents were studied by the Hartree-Fock method in the framework of a continuous polarizable dielectric model. The best agreement between experimental and calculated vibrational spectra was achieved taking into account non-specifi c solvation of free and coordinated anions. The microstructures of the trifl uoromethanesulfonate ion with the lithium cation in a contact ion pair and triplet in acetonitrile were determined.Keywords: trifl uoromethanesulfonate ion, aprotic solvent, vibrational spectrum, Hartree-Fock approximation.Introduction. Knowledge of the nature of ionic association, which is studied effectively using vibrational spectroscopy, is necessary in order to use non-aqueous electrolyte solutions containing the trifl uoromethanesulfonate ion (CF 3 3 SO − ) (trifl ate) to develop novel chemical current sources with active-metal anodes. The vibrational spectrum of trifl ate in dipolar aprotic solvents (DAS) was previously studied using Raman and IR absorption spectroscopy [1][2][3][4]. The structure of polymeric electrolytes containing LiCF 3 SO 3 was studied by Raman and IR-Fourier spectroscopy [5][6][7][8][9].It was found that the formation of Li + CF 3 3 SO − and triplets Li + CF 3 3 SO − Li + in DMF and acetonitrile (AN) caused a high-frequency shift in the Raman spectrum of the symmetric vibrational bands δ s (CF 3 ) (near 750-760 cm -1 ) and ν s (SO 3 ) (1030-1060 cm -1 ) of the anion relative to their positions in the spectrum of the free CF 3 3 SO − ion [3, 10]. An analogous high-frequency shift was observed for the ν s (SO 3 ) vibrational band in IR spectra of LiCF 3 SO 3 solutions in DAS of different dielectric permittivity (ε) and electron-donor capability [1,2]. It was concluded [1-10] that solvated anions, contact ion pairs (CIP), and positively or negatively charged triplets could exist in DAS.The goal of the present work was to study the microstructure and vibrational spectra of model complexes of trifl ate with Li + in DAS.Calculations. The optimum geometry was calculated and the vibrational spectrum was interpreted using the Hartree-Fock method neglecting (RHF) and partially considering (MP2) electron correlation in basis set 6-31+G(d) using the Gaussian 03 program suite [11]. Non-specifi c solvation between dissolved compounds and DAS molecules was accounted for in terms of the polarizable continuum model (PCM) [12,13]. The geometry was fully optimized taking into account the symmetry of the model complexes. Stationary points during geometry optimization were located by monitoring whether all calculated vibrational frequencies were real.Results and Discussion. Free (not interacting with a cation) trifl ate ion has C 3v symmetry and 18 normal vibrations with the symmetry representations 5A 1 + A 2 + 6E [14]. The A 1 and E vibrations are active in both the IR and Raman spectrum. The A 2 vibration is active only in the IR spectrum and is related to rotations of the SO 3 and CF 3 groups around t...