Xenon hexafluoride

Xenon hexafluoride is a covalent compound of xenon and fluorine with formula XeF₆. Its six fluorine atoms surround xenon in a distorted, fluxional structure shaped partly by a stereochemically active lone pair.

Molecular geometry: The three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in a molecule. XeF₆ departs from ideal octahedral geometry because its electron distribution is asymmetric.
Fluorinating agent: A reagent that introduces fluorine atoms into another substance. XeF₆ transfers fluorine to compounds including silicon dioxide.
Neil Bartlett: A British chemist who demonstrated in 1962 that xenon could form chemical compounds. His discovery of xenon compounds prompted the search for additional xenon fluorides.
Xenon-fluorine bond: A polar covalent bond between xenon and fluorine in xenon compounds. Six such bonds connect the central xenon atom to fluorine in XeF₆.
VSEPR theory: A model that predicts molecular shapes by treating electron domains around a central atom as mutually repelling. It provides a first account of how xenon’s bonding pairs and lone pair shape XeF₆.
Silicon dioxide: A chemical compound of silicon and oxygen, found in quartz and many glasses. XeF₆ reacts with silica to produce xenon oxides and silicon fluorides.
Noble gas compounds: Chemical compounds formed by elements in Group 18 of the periodic table. XeF₆ belongs to the once-unexpected chemistry of noble gases.
Oxidation state: A formal assignment of electrons to atoms used to track redox changes in compounds. Xenon has oxidation state +6 in XeF₆ under standard bookkeeping rules.
Lone pair: A pair of valence electrons localized on one atom and not shared in a bond. Xenon’s lone pair contributes to the molecule’s distorted geometry.
Xenon trioxide: An explosive xenon oxide with formula XeO₃, formed through hydrolysis of xenon fluorides. Stepwise hydrolysis of XeF₆ can lead to this high-oxidation-state xenon product.

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Xenon tetroxideRelated: This reactive xenon compound served as a starting material in routes to xenon oxides.