On the synthesis of the N2F+5 cation. A critical comment on the paper by Toy and Stringham.

Toy and Stringham recently reported [1] the synthesis of N₂F⁺₅ (CF₃)₃CO^-, a salt containing the novel pentafluorohydrazinium cation. This cation would be of significant academic and practical interest [2] since it would constitute the first known example of a substituted NF⁺₄ cation, i.e. an NF⁺₄ cation in which a fluorine ligand is replaced by an NF₂ group. According to the authors of [1], N₂F⁺₅(CF₃)₃CO^- was formed in a very unusual reaction involving the transfer of a fluorine cation from (CF₃)₃COF to N₂F₄ according to: