Diboron tetrafluoride is the

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

with the formula (BF₂)₂. A colorless gas, the compound has a halflife of days at room temperature. It is the most stable of the diboron tetrahalides.

Structure and bonding

Diboron tetrafluoride is a planar molecule with a B-B bond distance of 172 pm. Although it is electron-deficient, the unsaturated boron centers are stabilized by pi-bonding with the terminal fluoride ligands. The compound is isoelectronic with

oxalate Oxalate (IUPAC: ethanedioate) is an anion with the formula C2O42−. This dianion is colorless. It occurs naturally, including in some foods. It forms a variety of salts, for example sodium oxalate (Na2C2O4), and several esters such as dimethyl o ...

Synthesis and reactions

Diboron tetrafluoride can be formed by treating

boron monofluoride Boron monofluoride or fluoroborylene is a chemical compound with formula BF, one atom of boron and one of fluorine. It was discovered as an unstable gas and only in 2009 found to be a stable ligand combining with transition metals, in the same w ...

with

boron trifluoride Boron trifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula BF3. This pungent, colourless, and toxic gas forms white fumes in moist air. It is a useful Lewis acid and a versatile building block for other boron compounds. Structure and bondin ...

at low temperatures, taking care not to form higher polymers. Addition of diboron tetrafluoride to

Vaska's complex Vaska's complex is the trivial name for the chemical compound ''trans''-carbonylchlorobis(triphenylphosphine)iridium(I), which has the formula IrCl(CO) (C6H5)3sub>2. This square planar diamagnetic organometallic complex consists of a central iridi ...

was employed to produce an early example of a

transition metal boryl complex In chemistry, a transition metal boryl complex is a molecular species with a formally anionic boron center coordinated to a transition metal. They have the formula LnM-BR2 or LnM-(BR2LB) (L = ligand, R = H, organic substituent, LB = Lewis base). ...

: :2B₂F₄ + IrCl(CO)(PPh₃)₂ → Ir(BF₂)₃(CO)(PPh₃)₂ + ClBF₂

Historical literature

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References

External links

Diboron tetrafluoride at webelements
Fluorides Boron compounds Nonmetal halides Boron halides {{inorganic-compound-stub