The gas phase anion proton affinities of the periodinane anions IBX- and IBA- were examined using mass spectrometry-based experiments, and estimated as 1300 +/- 25 and 1390 +/- 10 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The experimental results were supported by theoretical calculations, which yielded proton affinities of 1336 and 1392 kJ mol(-1) for IBX- and IBA- respectively, at the B3LYP/aug-cc-PVDZ level of theory.