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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Expanding Cyanide-Bridged Weakly Coordinating Anions Through the Brominated Silver Salt Ag[BCNBBr]
Amina L Moshtaha1, Tim-Niclas Streit1, Joshua Parche1
1Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Inorganic Chemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Weakly coordinating anions (WCAs) composed of a cyanide unit bridging two triarylborane Lewis acids are an attractive but largely unexplored complement to established tetraarylborates such as [B(C6F5)4]- (BArF20). Here, we report the brominated representative [μ-(CN)(B(C6F4Br)3)2]- ([BCNBBr]-) through its readily accessible silver salt Ag[BCNBBr], prepared from AgCN and two equivalents of B(C6F4Br)3 in CH2Cl2. Ag[BCNBBr] provides convenient access to [BCNBBr]- in weakly coordinating media and enables the introduction of this WCA through oxidation or halide abstraction. Its utility is demonstrated by the synthesis of a range of [BCNBBr]- salts containing oxidizing and electrophilic cations. These results show that [BCNBBr]- is stable under strongly oxidizing conditions, including systems reaching at least +1.14 V vs. FeCp2/FeCp2 +. [BCNBBr]- represents a bromine-substituted WCA whose heavier bromine substituents enhance X-ray scattering and facilitate crystal structure analysis of its salts.
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