Radon difluoride explained

Radon difluoride is a compound of radon, a radioactive noble gas. Radon reacts readily with fluorine to form a solid compound, but this decomposes on attempted vaporization and its exact composition is uncertain.^{[1] [2]} Calculations suggest that it may be ionic,^[3] unlike all other known binary noble gas compounds. The usefulness of radon compounds is limited because of the radioactivity of radon. The longest-lived isotope, radon-222, has a half-life of only 3.82 days, which decays by α-emission to yield polonium-218.^[4]

Preparation

When radon is heated to 400 °C with fluorine, radon difluoride is formed.

Reactions

Radon difluoride can be reduced to radon and hydrogen fluoride when heated with hydrogen gas at 500 °C.

Notes and References

1. Fields . Paul R. . Stein . Lawrence . Zirin . Moshe H. . 1962 . Radon Fluoride . Journal of the American Chemical Society . 10.1021/ja00880a048 . 84 . 21 . 4164–4165.
2. Stein . Lawrence . 1970 . Ionic Radon Solution . Science . 17809133 . 1970Sci...168..362S . 10.1126/science.168.3929.362 . 168 . 3929 . 362–4. 31959268 .
3. Pitzer . Kenneth S. . 1975 . Fluorides of radon and element 118 . . 10.1039/C3975000760b . 18 . 760b–761 .
4. Book: Stein, Lawrence . 1987 . Radon and its Decay Products . Chemical Properties of Radon . ACS Symposium Series . 978-0-8412-1015-8 . 10.1021/bk-1987-0331.ch018 . 331 . 240–251 . https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1096539/.