Searching for Monomeric Nickel Tetrafluoride: Unravelling Infrared Matrix Isolation Spectra of Higher Nickel Fluorides.

Binary transition metal fluorides are textbook examples combining complex electronic features with most fundamental molecular structures. High-valent nickel fluorides are among the strongest known fluorinating and oxidizing agents, but there is a lack of experimental structural and spectroscopic investigations on molecular NiF or NiF . Apart from their demanding synthesis, also their quantum-chemical description is difficult due to their open shell nature and low-lying excited electronic states.