Antimony tetroxide is an
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 chemis ...
with the formula Sb
2O
4. This material, which exists as the mineral cervantite, is white but reversibly yellows upon heating. The material, with empirical formula SbO
2, is called antimony tetroxide to signify the presence of two kinds of Sb centers.
Formation and structure
The material forms when
Sb2O3 is heated in air:
[Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. "Inorganic Chemistry" Academic Press: San Diego, 2001. .]
:Sb
2O
3 + 0.5 O
2 → Sb
2O
4 ΔH = −187 kJ/mol
At 800 °C,
antimony(V) oxide
Antimony pentoxide (molecular formula: Sb2O5) is a chemical compound of antimony and oxygen. It contains antimony in the +5 oxidation state.
Structure
Antimony pentoxide has the same structure as the ''B'' form of niobium pentoxide and can be d ...
loses oxygen to give the same material:
:Sb
2O
5 → Sb
2O
4 + 0.5 O
2 ΔH = −64 kJ/mol
The material is mixed valence, containing both Sb(V) and Sb(III) centers. Two
polymorphs are known, one orthorhombic (shown in the infobox) and one monoclinic.
Both forms feature octahedral Sb(V) centers arranged in sheets with distorted Sb(III) centers bound to four oxides.
References
{{Oxides
Antimony compounds
Oxides
Mixed valence compounds