Tungsten tetrafluoride is an inorganic compound with the formula WF₄. This little studied solid has been invoked, together with tungsten pentafluoride, as an intermediate in the chemical vapor deposition of tungsten films using tungsten hexafluoride.

Structure

Tungsten tetrafluoride was found to have polymeric structure based on

Mössbauer spectroscopy Mössbauer spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique based on the Mössbauer effect. This effect, discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer (sometimes written "Moessbauer", German: "Mößbauer") in 1958, consists of the nearly recoil-free emission and abs ...

Preparation

It has been prepared by treatment of the

coordination complex A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as '' ligands'' or complexing agents. ...

WCl₄(MeCN)₂ with AsF₃.Meinert, Hasso; Dimitrov, A. "On the chemistry of tungsten tetrafluoride" Zeitschrift für Chemie (1976), 16(1), 29-30. It has been produced by from the reaction of WF₆ and a W filament at 600-800 °C.

Reactions

The compound can be re-oxidized to W(VI) compounds by treatment with fluorine and chlorine: :WF₄ + X₂ → WF₄X₂ Upon heating, it disproportionates to WF₆ and tungsten metal.

References

{{fluorine compounds Tungsten halides Fluorides