Mixed halo/hydroxy carborane anions: thermally stable platforms for hydronium ion isolationElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthesis and X-ray data and colour figures. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b3/b314475e/

Abstract

Hydroxylation of the robust, weakly coordinating hexahalo-carborane anion system, CB(11)H(6)Br(6)(-1), produces a new class of anion with mixed halo/hydroxyl substituents, HCB(11)(OH)(5)Br(6)(-1) which can be used to isolate a number of hydronium cation salts including an 'ice tautomer' composed of hydronium cation, anion hydroxyl groups and coordinated water molecules.