Structure and stability of the HFF and FHF radicals

The structure and stability of the HFF and FHF isomers in their two lowest electronic states is studied by means of ab initio SCF and CI calculations employing a double-zeta basis plus various polarization functions. Both complexes can be essentially described by an HF dipole (exhibiting a standard HF bond length) attracting a fluorine atom, with an FF distance of 5.14 bohr calculated for the HF··F ground state and an H··F bond of 4.3 bohr for the most stable FHF species. The HF₂ radical is found to prefer a bent structure in its ²Σ⁺ - ²A' ground state with an extremely flat potential curve, while the first very low-lying excited state of HF₂ as well as both components of the ground (in this case ²Π) state of the FH··F complex are calculated to be linear. The symmetric FHF structure exhibits optimal bond lengths at approximately 2.1 bohr but is considerably less stable than the asymmetrical arrangement of nuclei. With respect to dissociation into HF + F the HF₂ form is found to be stable in both (²Σ⁺ - A') and ²Π states while the conformer FH··F shows a minimum only for the ²Π ground state; the exothermicity of the H + F₂ → HF + F reaction is calculated to be 104.6 kcal mol^?1 in good agreement with the experimental quantity of 102.5 ± 2.8 kcal mol^?1. Comparison with the negative ions HF₂^?and FHF^? is made whenever appropriate.