The reaction between tungsten hexafluoride and pentafluoroaniline

Tungsten hexafluoride reacts with pentafluoroaniline to give a mixture containing the imido anions [WF5(NC6F5)]− and [W2F9(NC6F5)2]−. From the solution in CF3COOH the salt C6F5NH3+[(C6F5N)WF4(F)WF4(NC6F5)]− was isolated and its X-ray crystal structure determined. In the crystal there are two crystallographically distinct anions, both with fluorine bridges; in one the WFW angle is 150.8° and in the other 170.4°. The average W-N distance in the linear WNC units is 1.74 Å. A 19F NMR study in MeCN suggests the anions to be linear in solution.