Effects of halogen substitution on the properties of eight- and nine-vertex closo-boranes.

The symmetry constrained geometries of the eight- and nine-vertex polyhedral boranes and haloboranes BnXnz (n = 8 and 9; X = H, F and Cl; z = -2, -1 and 0) were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level and their nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS) were calculated using the GIAO method with Kohn-Sham orbitals. Substitution of halogens on borane cages was found to significantly impact not only the geometric but also magnetic properties. Multiple fluorine substituents cause a deviation from the Wade-Mingos skeletal electron rules in B8F8(2-), resulting in a distortion from the expected D2d bisdisphenoid to a C2v nido type bicapped trigonal prism. However, all of the nine-vertex cages B9X9z retain the D3h tricapped trigonal prismatic structure of B9H9(2-). The presence of halogen substituents was found to enhance the three-dimensional diatropic ring currents within the dianionic borane cages B8X8(2-) and B9X9(2-). For the neutral structures the NICS values indicate BnFn to be aromatic, BnCln to be essentially non-aromatic, and BnHn to be antiaromatic (n = 8, 9).