Copper(I) fluoride or cuprous fluoride 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 chemist ...

with the chemical formula CuF. Its existence is uncertain. It was reported in 1933 to have a

sphalerite Sphalerite (sometimes spelled sphaelerite) is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in Sedimentary exhalative deposits, sedimen ...

-type crystal structure. Modern textbooks state that CuF is not known, since fluorine is so electronegative that it will always oxidise copper to its +2 oxidation state. Complexes of CuF such as Ph₃P)₃CuFare, however, known and well characterised.

Synthesis and reactivity

Unlike other copper(I) halides like copper(I) chloride, copper(I) fluoride tends to

disproportionate In chemistry, disproportionation, sometimes called dismutation, is a redox reaction in which one compound of intermediate oxidation state converts to two compounds, one of higher and one of lower oxidation states. More generally, the term can ...

into copper(II) fluoride and copper in a one-to-one ratio at ambient conditions, unless it is stabilised through complexation as in the example of u(N₂)F :2CuF → Cu + CuF₂

References

{{fluorine compounds Fluorides Metal halides Copper(I) compounds Zincblende crystal structure Hypothetical_chemical_compounds

Synthesis and reactivity

See also

References