Energy surface calculations for the reaction HF + H+ ⇌ HFH+

Various GTO basis sets were investigated for their effectiveness in determining the SCF energy and geometry of the HFH⁺ molecule. A double zeta set augmented with a p_z function on each H atom was used to calculate the potential energy surface for the collinear protonation of HF. Limited configuration interaction calculations gave an energy of ?100.27365 E_a for an HF separation of 1.819 a₀ and a bond angle of 118.1°, and an energy of protonation of 119.5 kcal/mol.