A Rare Example of a Gallium‐Based Lewis Superacid: Synthesis and Reactivity of Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub>
The Lewis superacid Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub> has been synthesized and characterized, revealing a monomeric structure in solution and a dimeric structure in the solid state. Isolated adducts of Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub> with strong and weak Lewis bases have been characterized spectroscopically as well as by single-crystal X-ray diffractometry. The Lewis acidity of this new species has been evaluated by means of different experimental and theoretical methods, which has allowed to classify it as one of only a few examples of a gallium-based Lewis superacid. The high Lewis acidity of Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub> was used to amplify the strength of the Brønsted acid HOTeF<sub>5</sub>, leading to the protonation of diethyl ether. Furthermore, Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub> was utilized to access the strong oxidizing system Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>3</sub>/Xe(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>2</sub> in SO<sub>2</sub>ClF, which was successfully employed in the synthesis of the dimethyl chloronium salt [Cl(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>][Ga(OTeF<sub>5</sub>)<sub>4</sub>], a strong electrophilic methylation reagent.
Authors
- Kurt F. Hoffmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5419-1741)
- Sebastian Riedel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-5719)
- Lukas Fischer
Institutions
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Chemistry - A European Journal
- Published
- 2024-09-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202403266
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Inorganic Fluorides and Related Compounds
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.11
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Freie Universität Berlin