Radon compounds are chemical compounds formed by the element radon (Rn). Radon is a noble gas, i.e. a zero-valence element, and is chemically not very reactive. The 3.8-day half-life of radon-222 makes it useful in physical sciences as a natural tracer. Because radon is a gas under normal circumstances, and its decay-chain parents are not, it can readily be extracted from them for research. [1]
It is inert to most common chemical reactions, such as combustion, because its outer valence shell contains eight electrons. This produces a stable, minimum energy configuration in which the outer electrons are tightly bound. [2] Its first ionization energy—the minimum energy required to extract one electron from it—is 1037 kJ/mol. [3] In accordance with periodic trends, radon has a lower electronegativity than the element one period before it, xenon, and is therefore more reactive. Early studies concluded that the stability of radon hydrate should be of the same order as that of the hydrates of chlorine (Cl
2) or sulfur dioxide (SO
2), and significantly higher than the stability of the hydrate of hydrogen sulfide (H
2S). [4]
Because of its cost[ citation needed ] and radioactivity, experimental chemical research is seldom performed with radon, and as a result there are very few reported compounds of radon, all being either fluorides or oxides. Radon can be oxidized by powerful oxidizing agents such as fluorine, thus forming radon difluoride (RnF
2). [5] [6] It decomposes back to its elements at a temperature of above 523 K (250 °C; 482 °F), and is reduced by water to radon gas and hydrogen fluoride: it may also be reduced back to its elements by hydrogen gas. [7] It has a low volatility and was thought to be RnF
2.[ clarification needed ] Because of the short half-life of radon and the radioactivity of its compounds, it has not been possible to study the compound in any detail. Theoretical studies on this molecule predict that it should have a Rn–F bond distance of 2.08 ångström (Å), and that the compound is thermodynamically more stable and less volatile than its lighter counterpart xenon difluoride (XeF
2). [8] The octahedral molecule RnF
6 was predicted to have an even lower enthalpy of formation than the difluoride. [9] The [RnF]+ ion is believed to form by the following reaction: [10]
For this reason, antimony pentafluoride together with chlorine trifluoride and N
2F
2Sb
2F
11 have been considered for radon gas removal in uranium mines due to the formation of radon–fluorine compounds. [1] Radon compounds can be formed by the decay of radium in radium halides, a reaction that has been used to reduce the amount of radon that escapes from targets during irradiation. [7] Additionally, salts of the [RnF]+ cation with the anions SbF−
6, TaF−
6, and BiF−
6 are known. [7] Radon is also oxidised by dioxygen difluoride to RnF
2 at 173 K (−100 °C; −148 °F). [7]
Radon oxides are among the few other reported compounds of radon; [11] only the trioxide (RnO
3) has been confirmed. [12] The higher fluorides RnF
4 and RnF
6 have been claimed to exist [12] and are calculated to be stable, [13] but their identification is unclear. [12] They may have been observed in experiments where unknown radon-containing products distilled together with xenon hexafluoride: these may have been RnF
4, RnF
6, or both. [7] Trace-scale heating of radon with xenon, fluorine, bromine pentafluoride, and either sodium fluoride or nickel fluoride was claimed to produce a higher fluoride as well which hydrolysed to form RnO
3. While it has been suggested that these claims were really due to radon precipitating out as the solid complex [RnF]+
2[NiF6]2−, the fact that radon coprecipitates from aqueous solution with CsXeO
3F has been taken as confirmation that RnO
3 was formed, which has been supported by further studies of the hydrolysed solution. That [RnO3F]− did not form in other experiments may have been due to the high concentration of fluoride used. Electromigration studies also suggest the presence of cationic [HRnO3]+ and anionic [HRnO4]− forms of radon in weakly acidic aqueous solution (pH > 5), the procedure having previously been validated by examination of the homologous xenon trioxide. [12]
The decay technique has also been used. Avrorin et al. reported in 1982 that 212 Fr compounds cocrystallised with their caesium analogues appeared to retain chemically bound radon after electron capture; analogies with xenon suggested the formation of RnO3, but this could not be confirmed. [14]
It is likely that the difficulty in identifying higher fluorides of radon stems from radon being kinetically hindered from being oxidised beyond the divalent state because of the strong ionicity of radon difluoride (RnF
2) and the high positive charge on radon in RnF+; spatial separation of RnF
2 molecules may be necessary to clearly identify higher fluorides of radon, of which RnF
4 is expected to be more stable than RnF
6 due to spin–orbit splitting of the 6p shell of radon (RnIV would have a closed-shell 6s2
6p2
1/2 configuration). Therefore, while RnF
4 should have a similar stability to xenon tetrafluoride (XeF
4), RnF
6 would likely be much less stable than xenon hexafluoride (XeF
6): radon hexafluoride would also probably be a regular octahedral molecule, unlike the distorted octahedral structure of XeF
6, because of the inert-pair effect. [15] [16] Because radon is quite electropositive for a noble gas, it is possible that radon fluorides actually take on highly fluorine-bridged structures and are not volatile. [16] Extrapolation down the noble gas group would suggest also the possible existence of RnO, RnO2, and RnOF4, as well as the first chemically stable noble gas chlorides RnCl2 and RnCl4, but none of these have yet been found. [7]
Radon carbonyl (RnCO) has been predicted to be stable and to have a linear molecular geometry. [17] The molecules Rn
2 and RnXe were found to be significantly stabilized by spin-orbit coupling. [18] Radon caged inside a fullerene has been proposed as a drug for tumors. [19] [20] Despite the existence of Xe(VIII), no Rn(VIII) compounds have been claimed to exist; RnF
8 should be highly unstable chemically (XeF8 is thermodynamically unstable). It is predicted that the most stable Rn(VIII) compound would be barium perradonate (Ba2RnO6), analogous to barium perxenate. [13] The instability of Rn(VIII) is due to the relativistic stabilization of the 6s shell, also known as the inert-pair effect. [13]
Radon reacts with the liquid halogen fluorides ClF, ClF
3, ClF
5, BrF
3, BrF
5, and IF
7 to form RnF
2. In halogen fluoride solution, radon is nonvolatile and exists as the RnF+ and Rn2+ cations; addition of fluoride anions results in the formation of the complexes RnF−
3 and RnF2−
4, paralleling the chemistry of beryllium(II) and aluminium(III). [7] The standard electrode potential of the Rn2+/Rn couple has been estimated as +2.0 V, [21] although there is no evidence for the formation of stable radon ions or compounds in aqueous solution. [7]
The noble gases are the naturally occurring members of group 18 of the periodic table: helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn). Under standard conditions, these chemical elements are odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity and cryogenic boiling points.
Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. One radon isotope occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chain through which thorium slowly decays into various radioactive nuclides and eventually into a stable isotope of lead. A different isotope of radon occurs in greater quantities as a step in the decay chain of uranium which also eventually decays to a (different) stable isotope of lead. Radon isotopes are the immediate decay products of radium isotopes. Radon's most stable isotope, radon-222, has a half-life of only 3.8 days, making radon one of the rarest elements. Since thorium and uranium are two of the most common radioactive elements on Earth, while also having three isotopes with half-lives on the order of several billion years, radon will be present on Earth long into the future despite its short half-life. The decay of radon produces many other short-lived nuclides, known as "radon daughters", ending at stable isotopes of lead.
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. Calculations suggest that it may be ionic, 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.
Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, the first noble gas compound to be synthesized.
Xenon hexafluoroplatinate is the product of the reaction of platinum hexafluoride with xenon, in an experiment that proved the chemical reactivity of the noble gases. This experiment was performed by Neil Bartlett at the University of British Columbia, who formulated the product as "Xe+[PtF6]−", although subsequent work suggests that Bartlett's product was probably a salt mixture and did not in fact contain this specific salt.
In chemistry, noble gas compounds are chemical compounds that include an element from the noble gases, group 18 of the periodic table. Although the noble gases are generally unreactive elements, many such compounds have been observed, particularly involving the element xenon.
In chemistry, an interhalogen compound is a molecule which contains two or more different halogen atoms and no atoms of elements from any other group.
Xenon tetrafluoride is a chemical compound with chemical formula XeF
4. It was the first discovered binary compound of a noble gas. It is produced by the chemical reaction of xenon with fluorine:
Xenon hexafluoride is a noble gas compound with the formula XeF6. It is one of the three binary fluorides of xenon that have been studied experimentally, the other two being XeF2 and XeF4. All known are exergonic and stable at normal temperatures. XeF6 is the strongest fluorinating agent of the series. It is a colorless solid that readily sublimes into intensely yellow vapors.
Silver(II) fluoride is a chemical compound with the formula AgF2. It is a rare example of a silver(II) compound - silver usually exists in its +1 oxidation state. It is used as a fluorinating agent.
Xenon trioxide is an unstable compound of xenon in its +6 oxidation state. It is a very powerful oxidizing agent, and liberates oxygen from water slowly, accelerated by exposure to sunlight. It is dangerously explosive upon contact with organic materials. When it detonates, it releases xenon and oxygen gas.
Xenon difluoride is a powerful fluorinating agent with the chemical formula XeF
2, and one of the most stable xenon compounds. Like most covalent inorganic fluorides it is moisture-sensitive. It decomposes on contact with water vapor, but is otherwise stable in storage. Xenon difluoride is a dense, colourless crystalline solid.
Krypton difluoride, KrF2 is a chemical compound of krypton and fluorine. It was the first compound of krypton discovered. It is a volatile, colourless solid at room temperature. The structure of the KrF2 molecule is linear, with Kr−F distances of 188.9 pm. It reacts with strong Lewis acids to form salts of the KrF+ and Kr
2F+
3 cations.
The dioxygenyl(or dioxyl) ion, O+
2, is a rarely-encountered oxycation in which both oxygen atoms have a formal oxidation state of +1/2. It is formally derived from oxygen by the removal of an electron:
Dioxygenyl hexafluoroplatinate is a compound with formula O2PtF6. It is a hexafluoroplatinate of the unusual dioxygenyl cation, O2+, and is the first known compound containing this cation. It can be produced by the reaction of dioxygen with platinum hexafluoride. The fact that PtF
6 is strong enough to oxidise O
2, whose first ionization potential is 12.2 eV, led Neil Bartlett to correctly surmise that it might be able to oxidise xenon (first ionization potential 12.13 eV). This led to the discovery of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, which proved that the noble gases, previously thought to be inert, are able to form chemical compounds.
A hexafluoride is a chemical compound with the general formula QXnF6, QXnF6m−, or QXnF6m+. Many molecules fit this formula. An important hexafluoride is hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6), which is a byproduct of the mining of phosphate rock. In the nuclear industry, uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is an important intermediate in the purification of this element.
Xenon hexafluororhodate (XeRhF6) is a deep-red noble gas compound first synthesised in 1963 by Neil Bartlett. It is analogous to xenon hexafluoroplatinate.
Fluorine forms a great variety of chemical compounds, within which it always adopts an oxidation state of −1. With other atoms, fluorine forms either polar covalent bonds or ionic bonds. Most frequently, covalent bonds involving fluorine atoms are single bonds, although at least two examples of a higher order bond exist. Fluoride may act as a bridging ligand between two metals in some complex molecules. Molecules containing fluorine may also exhibit hydrogen bonding. Fluorine's chemistry includes inorganic compounds formed with hydrogen, metals, nonmetals, and even noble gases; as well as a diverse set of organic compounds. For many elements the highest known oxidation state can be achieved in a fluoride. For some elements this is achieved exclusively in a fluoride, for others exclusively in an oxide; and for still others the highest oxidation states of oxides and fluorides are always equal.
Xenon fluoride nitrate, also known as fluoroxenonium nitrate, is the chemical compound with formula FXeONO2.
Radon hexafluoride is a binary chemical compound of radon and fluorine with the chemical formula RnF
6. This is still a hypothetical compound that has not been synthesized so far.