Chemistry:Dioxygen difluoride

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Dioxygen difluoride
Stick model of dioxygen difluoride
Spacefill model of dioxygen difluoride
Names
Preferred IUPAC name
Dioxygen difluoride
Systematic IUPAC name
Fluorooxygen hypofluorite
Other names
  • Monofluorooxygenyl hypofluorite
  • Peroxydifluoride
  • Oxygen perfluoride
  • Oxyfluoryl hypofluorite
  • Fluorine peroxide
  • FOOF
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
Abbreviations FOOF
ChEBI
ChemSpider
1570
UNII
Properties
O2F2
Molar mass 69.996 g·mol−1
Appearance orange as a solid
red as a liquid
Density 1.45 g/cm3 (at b.p.)
Melting point −154 °C (−245 °F; 119 K)
Boiling point −57 °C (−71 °F; 216 K) extrapolated
Solubility in other solvents decomposes
Thermochemistry
62.1 J/(mol·K)
277.2 J/(mol·K)
19.2 kJ/mol
58.2 kJ/mol
Related compounds
Related compounds
Hazards
GHS pictograms GHS03: OxidizingGHS05: CorrosiveGHS06: ToxicGHS09: Environmental hazard
GHS Signal word Danger
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Infobox references

Dioxygen difluoride is a compound of fluorine and oxygen with the molecular formula O2F2. It can exist as an orange-colored solid which melts into a red liquid at −163 °C (110 K). It is an extremely strong oxidant and decomposes into oxygen and fluorine even at −160 °C (113 K) at a rate of 4% per dayits lifetime at room temperature is thus extremely short.[1] Dioxygen difluoride reacts vigorously with nearly every chemical it encounters (including ordinary ice) leading to its onomatopoeic nickname FOOF (a play on its chemical structure and its explosive tendencies).[2]

Preparation

Dioxygen difluoride can be obtained by subjecting a 1:1 mixture of gaseous fluorine and oxygen at low pressure (7–17 mmHg (0.9–2.3 kPa) is optimal) to an electric discharge of 25–30 mA at 2.1–2.4 kV.[3] A similar method was used for the first synthesis by Otto Ruff in 1933.[4] Another synthesis involves mixing O2 and F2 in a stainless steel vessel cooled to −196 °C (77.1 K), followed by exposing the elements to MeV bremsstrahlung for several hours. A third method requires heating a mix of fluorine and oxygen to 700 °C (1,292 °F), and then rapidly cooling it using liquid oxygen.[5] All of these methods involve synthesis according to the equation

O2 + F2O2F2

It also arises from the thermal decomposition of ozone difluoride:[6]

2 O3F2 → 2 O2F2 + O2

Structure and properties

In O2F2, oxygen is assigned the unusual oxidation state of +1. In most of its other compounds, oxygen has an oxidation state of −2.

The structure of dioxygen difluoride resembles that of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, in its large dihedral angle, which approaches 90° and C2 symmetry. This geometry conforms with the predictions of VSEPR theory.

Dioxygen difluoride's structure

The bonding within dioxygen difluoride has been the subject of considerable speculation, particularly because of the very short O−O distance and the long O−F distances. The O−O bond length is within 2 pm of the 120.7 pm distance for the O=O double bond in the dioxygen molecule, O2. Several bonding systems have been proposed to explain this, including an O−O triple bond with O−F single bonds destabilised and lengthened by repulsion between the lone pairs on the fluorine atoms and the π orbitals of the O−O bond.[7] Repulsion involving the fluorine lone pairs is also responsible for the long and weak covalent bonding in the fluorine molecule. Computational chemistry indicates that dioxygen difluoride has an exceedingly high barrier to rotation of 81.17 kJ/mol around the O−O bond (in hydrogen peroxide the barrier is 29.45 kJ/mol); this is close to the O−F bond disassociation energy of 81.59 kJ/mol.[8]

The 19F NMR chemical shift of dioxygen difluoride is 865 ppm, which is by far the highest chemical shift recorded for a fluorine nucleus, thus underlining the extraordinary electronic properties of this compound. Despite its instability, thermochemical data for O2F2 have been compiled.[9]

Reactivity

The compound readily decomposes into oxygen and fluorine. Even at a temperature of −160 °C (113 K), 4% decomposes each day[1] by this process:

O2F2O2 + F2

The other main property of this unstable compound is its oxidizing power, although most experimental reactions have been conducted near −100 °C (173 K).[10] Several experiments with the compound resulted in a series of fires and explosions. Some of the compounds that produced violent reactions with O2F2 include ethyl alcohol, methane, ammonia, and even water ice.[10]

With BF3 and PF5, it gives the corresponding dioxygenyl salts:[1][11]

2 O2F2 + 2 PF5 → 2 [O2]+[PF6] + F2

Uses

The compound currently has no practical applications, but has been of theoretical interest. One laboratory used it to synthesize plutonium hexafluoride at unprecedentedly low temperatures, which was significant because previous methods for preparation needed temperatures so high that the plutonium hexafluoride created would decompose rapidly.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. (2001). Inorganic Chemistry. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-352651-9. 
  2. Lowe, Derek (2010-02-23). "Things I Won't Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride" (in en). https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dioxygen-difluoride. 
  3. Kwasnik, W. (1963). "Dioxygen Difluoride". in Brauer, G.. Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry. 1 (2nd ed.). NY: Academic Press. p. 162. 
  4. Ruff, O.; Mensel, W. (1933). "Neue Sauerstofffluoride: O2F2 und OF". Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie 211 (1–2): 204–208. doi:10.1002/zaac.19332110122. 
  5. Mills, Thomas (1991). "Direct synthesis of liquid-phase dioxygen difluoride". Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 52 (3): 267–276. doi:10.1016/S0022-1139(00)80341-3. https://zenodo.org/record/1259619. 
  6. Kirshenbaum, A. D.; Grosse, A. V. (1959). "Ozone Fluoride or Trioxygen Difluoride, O3F2". Journal of the American Chemical Society 81 (6): 1277. doi:10.1021/ja01515a003. 
  7. Bridgeman, A. J.; Rothery, J. (1999). "Bonding in mixed halogen and hydrogen peroxides". Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions 1999 (22): 4077–4082. doi:10.1039/a904968a. 
  8. Kraka, Elfi; He, Yuan; Cremer, Dieter (2001). "Quantum Chemical Descriptions of FOOF: The Unsolved Problem of Predicting Its Equilibrium Geometry". The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 105 (13): 3269–3276. doi:10.1021/jp002852r. Bibcode2001JPCA..105.3269K. 
  9. Lyman, John L. (1989). "Thermodynamic Properties of Dioxygen Difluoride (O2F2) and Dioxygen Fluoride (O2F)". Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data (American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Physics for the National Institute of Standards and Technology) 18 (2): 799. doi:10.1063/1.555830. Bibcode1989JPCRD..18..799L. https://www.nist.gov/data/PDFfiles/jpcrd364.pdf. Retrieved 5 August 2013. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Streng, A. G. (1963). "The Chemical Properties of Dioxygen Difluoride". Journal of the American Chemical Society 85 (10): 1380–1385. doi:10.1021/ja00893a004. 
  11. Solomon, Irvine J.; Brabets, Robert I.; Uenishi, Roy K.; Keith, James N.; McDonough, John M. (1964). "New Dioxygenyl Compounds". Inorganic Chemistry 3 (3): 457. doi:10.1021/ic50013a036. 
  12. Malm, J. G.; Eller, P. G.; Asprey, L. B. (1984). "Low temperature synthesis of plutonium hexafluoride using dioxygen difluoride". Journal of the American Chemical Society 106 (9): 2726–2727. doi:10.1021/ja00321a056. 

External links

  • Perfluoroperoxide in Linstrom, Peter J.; Mallard, William G. (eds.); NIST Chemistry WebBook, NIST Standard Reference Database Number 69, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg (MD), http://webbook.nist.gov