Tungsten(V) chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula W₂ Cl₁₀. This compound is analogous in many ways to the more familiar

molybdenum pentachloride Molybdenum(V) chloride is the inorganic compound with the empirical formula . This dark volatile solid is used in research to prepare other molybdenum compounds. It is moisture-sensitive and soluble in chlorinated solvents. Structure Usually call ...

. The material is prepared by reduction of

tungsten hexachloride Tungsten hexachloride is the chemical compound of tungsten and chlorine with the formula WCl6. This dark violet blue species exists as a volatile solid under standard conditions. It is an important starting reagent in the preparation of tungsten ...

. One method involves the use of

tetrachloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, or perchloroethylene, and many other names (and abbreviations such as "perc" or "PERC", and "PCE"), is a chlorocarbon with the formula Cl2C=CCl2 . It is a colorless li ...

as the reductant :2 WCl₆ + C₂Cl₄ → W₂Cl₁₀ + C₂Cl₆ The blue green solid is volatile under vacuum and slightly soluble in nonpolar solvents. The compound is

oxophilic Oxophilicity is the tendency of certain chemical compounds to form oxides by hydrolysis or abstraction of an oxygen atom from another molecule, often from organic compounds. The term is often used to describe metal centers, commonly the early trans ...

and is highly reactive toward Lewis bases.

Structure

The compound exists as a dimer, with a pair of octahedral tungsten(V) centres bridged by two chloride ligands. The W---W separation is 3.814 Å, which is non-bonding. The compound is isostructural with Nb₂Cl₁₀ and Mo₂Cl₁₀. The compound evaporates to give trigonal bipyramidal WCl₅ monomers.

References

Chlorides Tungsten halides {{inorganic-compound-stub