Protonated carbonyl compounds have been invoked as intermediates in many acid-catalyzed organic reactions.T o gain key structural and electronic data about such intermediates,o xonium salts derived from five representative examples of ketones and aldehydes are synthesized in the solid state,and characterized by X-rayc rystallography and Raman spectroscopyfor the first time.DFT calculations were carried out on the cations in the gas phase.Whereas an equimolar reaction of the carbonyl compounds,a cetone,c yclopentanone,a damantanone,a nd acetaldehyde,w ith SbF 5 in anhydrous HF yielded mononuclear oxonium cations,t he same stoichiometry in areaction with benzaldehyde resulted in formation of ahemiprotonated, hydrogen-bridged dimeric cation. Hemiprotonated acetaldehyde was obtained when a2:1 ratio of aldehyde and SbF 5 was used. Experimental and NBO analyses quantify the significant increase in electrophilicity of the oxonium cations compared to that of the parent ketones/aldehydes.In targeted reactions,s alts of protonated ketones and aldehydes were isolated using stoichiometric amounts of Scheme 1. Resonance structures for protonated ketones.