Ruthenium pentafluoride is the inorganic compound with the

empirical formula In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms present in a compound. A simple example of this concept is that the empirical formula of sulfur monoxide, or SO, would simply be SO, as is the ...

RuF₅. This green volatile solid has rarely been studied but is of interest as a binary fluoride of

ruthenium Ruthenium is a chemical element with the symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is inert to most other chemical ...

, i.e. a compound containing only Ru and F. It is sensitive toward hydrolysis. Its structure consists of Ru₄F₂₀

tetramer A tetramer () ('' tetra-'', "four" + '' -mer'', "parts") is an oligomer formed from four monomers or subunits. The associated property is called ''tetramery''. An example from inorganic chemistry is titanium methoxide with the empirical formula ...

s, as seen in the isostructural

platinum pentafluoride Platinum pentafluoride is the inorganic compound with the empirical formula PtF5. This red volatile solid has rarely been studied but is of interest as one of the few binary fluorides of platinum, i.e., a compound containing only Pt and F. It is ...

. Within the tetramers, each Ru adopts octahedral molecular geometry, with two bridging fluoride

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule ( functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's elec ...

s. Ruthenium pentafluoride reacts with iodine to give ruthenium(III) fluoride.

References

{{Fluorides Ruthenium compounds Fluorides Platinum group halides