Abstract: Quite naturally, the formulation of O2PtF6 as 
, and the consequent requirement that the electron affinity of PtF6 exceed 7 eV, was met with some skepticism. But there could, to my mind, only be the one possibility for the salt produced when the red gas PtF6 precipitated the orange-red solid on mixing with oxygen gas. To fully demonstrate the remarkable one-electron oxidizing power of PtF6, I pondered on other candidates for oxidation, which would be at least as impressive as the O2 to 
example. By this time (end of 1961) our fully documented case for 
was already in the press (see Chap. 1, Ref. 10), and I realized that at the Argonne National Laboratory (where PtF6 and other hexafluorides such as RuF6 and RhF6 had been first prepared) there was likely to be a quick follow up on our discovery. But at this point I was without any coworkers having the necessary glassworking skills, and experience in handling fluorine. My progress was therefore dictated by what I could do with my own hands…
