The association of a free Cl -ion with the Zn site is already strongly preferred over the coordination of two THF molecules by 90.3 / 104.2 kJ mol -1 at 0 K, by B3LYP-D3 and PBE0-D3, respectively, and it only increases with temperature. Therefore, the Zn/CUBE system will aggressively abstract Cl -from available sources, and heating will only thermodynamically promote the process.