Is the Perfluorinated Trityl Cation Worth a Revisit? A Theoretical Study on the Lewis Acidities and Stabilities of Highly Halogenated Trityl Derivatives

Abstract

The relative Lewis acidities of a series of known, unknown and observed but unstable halogenated derivatives of the trityl cation have been probed in a computational study. The Lewis acidity was investigated from hydride, fluoride and methide affinities. The results indicate that the perhalogen-ated trityl cation [C(C6F5)3]+ is a desirable synthetic target, especially in the modern age of weakly coordinating anions. Our results also indicate that the stable [C(C6Cl5)3]+ cation may be an equally interesting Lewis acid.