Response to Comment on "Synthesis and characterization of the pentazolate anion <i>cyclo</i>-N<sub>5</sub><sup>-</sup> in (N<sub>5</sub>)<sub>6</sub>(H<sub>3</sub>O)<sub>3</sub>(NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>4</sub>Cl".

Jiang, Chao; Zhang, Lei; Sun, Chengguo; Zhang, Chong; Yang, Chen; Chen, Jun; Hu, Bingcheng · Science · 2018

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Abstract

Huang and Xu argue that the <i>cyclo</i>-N<sub>5</sub><sup>-</sup> ion in (N<sub>5</sub>)<sub>6</sub>(H<sub>3</sub>O)<sub>3</sub>(NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>4</sub>Cl we described in our report is theoretically unfavorable and is instead protonated. Their conclusion is invalid, as they use an improper method to assess the proton transfer in a solid crystal structure. We present an in-depth experimental and theoretical analysis of (N<sub>5</sub>)<sub>6</sub>(H<sub>3</sub>O)<sub>3</sub>(NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>4</sub>Cl that supports the results in the original paper.

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