Boronyls as Key Structural Units in Boron Oxide Clusters: B(BO) 2 - and B(BO) 3 -

Even though BO - is isoelectronic with CN -, the chemistry of BO - is relatively unknown. Here we report the first combined photoelectron spectroscopy and computational evidence that BO is a robust inorganic ligand that governs structural and electronic properties in B 3 O 2 - and B 4 O 3 - . Both anions yield similar and simple vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectra. Theoretical calculations reveal that B 3 O 2 - possesses a linear OBBBO - structure ( D ∞ h, 3 Σ g ) and B 4 O 3 - is a triangular B(BO) 3 - cluster ( D 3 h, 2 A 2 ‘ ‘), which can be viewed as two and three boronyls bonded to a single B atom, respectively. The current finding suggests that boronyls may be key structural units in boron-rich boron oxide cluster and they can be used to design novel boronyl compounds.