Ruthenium hexafluoride explained

Ruthenium hexafluoride, also ruthenium(VI) fluoride (RuF₆), is a compound of ruthenium and fluorine and one of the seventeen known binary hexafluorides.

Synthesis

Ruthenium hexafluoride is made by a direct reaction of ruthenium metal in a gas stream of fluorine and argon at 400–450 °C. The yields of this reaction are less than 10%.

+ 3 →

Description

Ruthenium hexafluoride is a dark brown crystalline solid that melts at 54 °C. The solid structure measured at −140 °C is orthorhombic space group Pnma. Lattice parameters are a = 9.313 Å, b = 8.484 Å, and c = 4.910 Å. There are four formula units (in this case, discrete molecules) per unit cell, giving a density of 3.68 g·cm⁻³.

The RuF₆ molecule itself (the form important for the liquid or gas phase) has octahedral molecular geometry, which has point group (O_h). The Ru–F bond length is 1.818 Å.

References

^{[1] [2]}

Further reading

• Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie, System Nr. 63, Ruthenium, Supplement, pp. 266–268.

External links

• • Ruthenium hexafluoride at webelements.com.

Notes and References

1. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 90th Edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 2009,, Section 4, Physical Constants of Inorganic Compounds, p. 4-85.
2. T. Drews, J. Supeł, A. Hagenbach, K. Seppelt: "Solid State Molecular Structures of Transition Metal Hexafluorides", in: Inorganic Chemistry, 2006, 45 (9), S. 3782–3788; ; .