Probing the structures and chemical bonding of boron-boronyl clusters using photoelectron spectroscopy and computational chemistry: B4(BO)(n)- (n = 1-3).

The electronic and structural properties of a series of boron oxide clusters, B(5)O(-), B(6)O(2)(-), and B(7)O(3)(-), are studied using photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional calculations. Vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectra are obtained, yielding electron affinities of 3.45, 3.54, and 4.94 eV for the corresponding neutrals, B(5)O, B(6)O(2), and B(7)O(3), respectively. Structural optimizations show that these oxide clusters can be formulated as B(4)(BO)(n)(-) (n = 1-3), which involve boronyls coordinated to a planar rhombic B(4) cluster. Chemical bonding analyses indicate that the B(4)(BO)(n)(-) clusters are all aromatic species with two π electrons.