Xenon hexafluoroplatinate is the product of the reaction of

platinum hexafluoride Platinum hexafluoride is the chemical compound with the formula Pt F6, and is one of seventeen known binary hexafluorides. It is a dark-red volatile solid that forms a red gas. The compound is a unique example of platinum in the +6 oxidation sta ...

with

xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

, in an experiment that proved the chemical reactivity of the

noble gas The noble gases (historically also the inert gases; sometimes referred to as aerogens) make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemi ...

es. This experiment was performed by Neil Bartlett at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, who formulated the product as "Xe⁺ tF₆sup>−", although subsequent work suggests that Bartlett's product was probably a salt mixture and did not in fact contain this specific salt.

Preparation

"Xenon hexafluoroplatinate" is prepared from xenon and platinum hexafluoride (PtF₆) as gaseous

solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Soluti ...

s in SF₆. The reactants are combined at 77 K and slowly warmed to allow for a controlled reaction.

Structure

The material described originally as "xenon hexafluoroplatinate" is probably not Xe⁺ tF₆sup>−. The main problem with this formulation is "Xe⁺", which would be a

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

and would

dimerize A dimer () ('' di-'', "two" + ''-mer'', "parts") is an oligomer consisting of two monomers joined by bonds that can be either strong or weak, covalent or intermolecular. Dimers also have significant implications in polymer chemistry, inorganic ch ...

or abstract a

fluorine Fluorine is a chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at standard conditions as a highly toxic, pale yellow diatomic gas. As the most electronegative reactive element, it is extremely reacti ...

atom to give XeF⁺. Thus, Bartlett discovered that Xe undergoes chemical reactions, but the nature and purity of his initial mustard yellow product remains uncertain. Further work indicates that Bartlett's product probably contained eFsup>+ tF₅sup>−, eFsup>+ t₂F₁₁sup>−, and e₂F₃sup>+ tF₆sup>−. The title "compound" is a salt, consisting of an

octahedral In geometry, an octahedron (plural: octahedra, octahedrons) is a polyhedron with eight faces. The term is most commonly used to refer to the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at ea ...

anionic An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts typ ...

complex of

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

and various xenon cations. It has been proposed that the platinum fluoride forms a negatively charged

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

ic network with xenon or xenon fluoride

cation An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

s held in its

interstices An interstitial space or interstice is a space between structures or objects. In particular, interstitial may refer to: Biology * Interstitial cell tumor * Interstitial cell, any cell that lies between other cells * Interstitial collagenase, ...

. A preparation of "XePtF₆" in HF solution results in a solid which has been characterized as a polymeric network associated with XeF⁺. This result is evidence for such a polymeric structure of xenon hexafluoroplatinate.

History

In 1962, Neil Bartlett discovered that a mixture of platinum hexafluoride gas and oxygen formed a red solid. The red solid turned out to be

dioxygenyl hexafluoroplatinate Dioxygenyl hexafluoroplatinate is a compound with formula O2PtF6. It is a hexafluoroplatinate of the unusual dioxygenyl cation, O2+, and is the first known compound containing this cation. It can be produced by the reaction of dioxygen with platin ...

, Bartlett noticed that the ionization energy for O₂ (1175 kJ mol⁻¹) was very close to the ionization energy for Xe (1170 kJ mol⁻¹). He then asked his colleagues to give him some xenon "so that he could try out some reactions", whereupon he established that xenon indeed reacts with PtF₆. Although, as discussed above, the product was probably a mixture of several compounds, Bartlett's work was the first proof that compounds could be prepared from a

. Since Bartlett's observation, many well-defined compounds of xenon have been reported including XeF₂, XeF₄, and XeF₆.

References

{{Platinum compounds Xenon compounds Fluorides Nonmetal halides Coordination complexes Platinum compounds Fluorometallates

Preparation

Structure

History

See also

References