User:Benjah-bmm27/HCO+

Formyl cation, [HCO]+. Abundant in space, intermediate in the Gattermann-Koch reaction. Can generate from formyl fluoride and antimony pentafluoride:


 * HC(O)F + SbF5 → [HCO]+ + [SbF6]−

Can consider as protonated carbon monoxide (H+ + CO → HCO+), or formaldehyde from which a hydride ion has been abstracted (H2CO → H− + HCO+).

Structure


Problem: bond lengths indicate C-O triple bond, but Lewis structure with C-O triple bond has wrong charges: +ve O and H, neutral C, whereas HF indicates neutral O, +ve C and H. Not just a simple matter of superimposing Lewis structures' wavefunctions - or is it?