The fluoride ion acceptor properties of OsO4 and OsO3F2 were investigated. The salts [N(CH3)4][OsO4F] and [N(CH3)4]2[OsO4F2] were prepared by the reactions of OsO4 with stoichiometric amounts of [N(CH3)4][F] in CH3CN solvent. The salts [N(CH3)4][OsO3F3] and [NO][OsO3F3] were prepared by the reactions of OsO3F2 with a stoichiometric amount of [N(CH3)4][F] in CH3CN solvent and with excess NOF, respectively. The OsO4F- anion was fully structurally characterized in the solid state by vibrational spectroscopy and by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of [N(CH3)4][OsO4F]: Abm2, a = 7.017(1) A, b = 11.401(2) A, c = 10.925(2) A, V = 874.1(3) A3, Z = 4, and R = 0.0282 at -50 degrees C. The cis-OsO4F2(2-) anion was characterized in the solid state by vibrational spectroscopy, and previous claims regarding the cis-OsO4F2(2-) anion are shown to be erroneous. The fac-OsO3F3- anion was fully structurally characterized in CH3CN solution by 19F NMR spectroscopy and in the solid state by vibrational spectroscopy of its N(CH3)4+ and NO+ salts and by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of [N(CH3)4][OsO3F3]: C2/c, a = 16.347(4) A, b = 13.475(3) A, c = 11.436(3) A, beta = 134.128(4) degrees, V = 1808.1(7) A3, Z = 8, and R = 0.0614 at -117 degrees C. The geometrical parameters and vibrational frequencies of OsO4F-, cis-OsO4F2(2-), monomeric OsO3F2, and fac-OsO3F3- and the fluoride affinities of OsO4 and monomeric OsO3F2 were calculated using density functional theory methods.

One of the most important classifications in chemistry and within the periodic table is the concept of formal oxidation states. The preparation and characterization of compounds containing elements with unusual oxidation states is of great interest to chemists. The highest experimentally known formal oxidation state of any chemical element is at present VIII, although higher oxidation states have been postulated. Compounds with oxidation state VIII include several xenon compounds (for example XeO4 and XeO3F2) and the well-characterized species RuO4 and OsO4 (refs 2-4). Iridium, which has nine valence electrons, is predicted to have the greatest chance of being oxidized beyond the VIII oxidation state. In recent matrix-isolation experiments, the IrO4 molecule was characterized as an isolated molecule in rare-gas matrices. The valence electron configuration of iridium in IrO4 is 5d(1), with a formal oxidation state of VIII. Removal of the remaining d electron from IrO4 would lead to the iridium tetroxide cation ([IrO4](+)), which was recently predicted to be stable and in which iridium is in a formal oxidation state of IX. There has been some speculation about the formation of [IrO4](+) species, but these experimental observations have not been structurally confirmed. Here we report the formation of [IrO4](+) and its identification by infrared photodissociation spectroscopy. Quantum-chemical calculations were carried out at the highest level of theory that is available today, and predict that the iridium tetroxide cation, with a Td-symmetrical structure and a d(0) electron configuration, is the most stable of all possible [IrO4](+) isomers.

The crystal structures of alpha-KrF(2) and salts containing the KrF(+) and Kr(2)F(3)(+) cations have been investigated for the first time using low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The low-temperature alpha-phase of KrF(2) crystallizes in the tetragonal space group I4/mmm with a = 4.1790(6) A, c = 6.489(1) A, Z = 2, V = 113.32(3) A(3), R(1) = 0.0231, and wR(2) = 0.0534 at -125 degrees C. The [KrF][MF(6)] (M = As, Sb, Bi) salts are isomorphous and isostructural and crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c with Z = 4. The unit cell parameters are as follows: beta-[KrF][AsF(6)], a = 5.1753(2) A, b = 10.2019(7) A, c = 10.5763(8) A, beta = 95.298(2) degrees, V = 556.02(6) A(3), R(1) = 0.0265, and wR(2) = 0.0652 at -120 degrees C; [KrF][SbF(6)], a = 5.2922(6) A, b = 10.444(1) A, c = 10.796(1) A, beta = 94.693(4) degrees, V = 594.73(1) A(3), R(1) = 0.0266, wR(2) = 0.0526 at -113 degrees C; [KrF][BiF(6)], a = 5.336(1) A, b = 10.513(2) A, c = 11.046(2) A, beta = 94.79(3) degrees, V = 617.6(2) A(3), R(1) = 0.0344, and wR(2) = 0.0912 at -130 degrees C. The Kr(2)F(3)(+) cation was investigated in [Kr(2)F(3)][SbF(6)].KrF(2), [Kr(2)F(3)](2)[SbF(6)](2).KrF(2), and [Kr(2)F(3)][AsF(6)].[KrF][AsF(6)]. [Kr(2)F(3)](2)[SbF(6)](2).KrF(2) crystallizes in the monoclinic P2(1)/c space group with Z = 4 and a = 8.042(2) A, b = 30.815(6) A, c = 8.137(2) A, beta = 111.945(2) degrees, V = 1870.1(7) A(3), R(1) = 0.0376, and wR(2) = 0.0742 at -125 degrees C. [Kr(2)F(3)][SbF(6)].KrF(2) crystallizes in the triclinic P1 space group with Z = 2 and a = 8.032(3) A, b = 8.559(4) A, c = 8.948(4) A, alpha = 69.659(9) degrees, beta = 63.75(1) degrees, gamma = 82.60(1) degrees, V = 517.1(4) A(3), R(1) = 0.0402, and wR(2) = 0.1039 at -113 degrees C. [Kr(2)F(3)][AsF(6)].[KrF][AsF(6)] crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c with Z = 4 and a = 6.247(1) A, b = 24.705(4) A, c = 8.8616(6) A, beta = 90.304(6) degrees, V = 1367.6(3) A(3), R(1) = 0.0471 and wR(2) = 0.0958 at -120 degrees C. The terminal Kr-F bond lengths of KrF(+) and Kr(2)F(3)(+) are very similar, exhibiting no crystallographically significant variation in the structures investigated (range, 1.765(3)-1.774(6) A and 1.780(7)-1.805(5) A, respectively). The Kr-F bridge bond lengths are significantly longer, with values ranging from 2.089(6) to 2.140(3) A in the KrF(+) salts and from 2.027(5) to 2.065(4) A in the Kr(2)F(3)(+) salts. The Kr-F bond lengths of KrF(2) in [Kr(2)F(3)][SbF(6)].KrF(2) and [Kr(2)F(3)](2)[SbF(6)](2).KrF(2) range from 1.868(4) to 1.888(4) A and are similar to those observed in alpha-KrF(2) (1.894(5) A). The synthesis and Raman spectrum of the new salt, [Kr(2)F(3)][PF(6)].nKrF(2), are also reported. Electron structure calculations at the Hartree-Fock and local density-functional theory levels were used to calculate the gas-phase geometries, charges, Mayer bond orders, and Mayer valencies of KrF(+), KrF(2), Kr(2)F(3)(+), and the ion pairs, [KrF][MF(6)] (M = P, As, Sb, Bi), and to assign their experimental vibrational frequencies.