An abinitio and ion cyclotron resonance study of the protonation of borazine

Abstract

The gas phase ion–molecule reactions and proton affinity of borazine have been investigated by both theoretical ab initio and ion cyclotron resonance techniques. The experimental proton affinity has been determined from competitive proton transfer equilibria with standard reference bases and found to be 196.4 ± 0.2 kcal/mol. Ion–molecule reaction schemes for reaction of borazine molecular ions have been proposed. Ab initio calculations find the proton affinity of borazine to be 203.4 kcal/mol and the most energetically favorable structure of the borazinium ion is one in which very little structural change occurs relative to neutral borazine with the exception of the geometry about the protonated nitrogen atom. Charge distributions and bond lengths are used to explain bonding changes upon protonation.