Xenon hexafluoroplatinate

Xenon hexafluoroplatinate is an ionic solid formed by reacting xenon with platinum hexafluoride. Its 1962 discovery established that xenon can form chemical compounds.

Platinum hexafluoride: Platinum hexafluoride is a volatile molecular compound and exceptionally strong oxidizing agent. It oxidizes xenon in the reaction that produces the solid.
Neil Bartlett: Neil Bartlett was a British chemist who prepared the first recognized xenon compound in 1962. He discovered xenon hexafluoroplatinate by adapting platinum hexafluoride chemistry.
Noble gas: A noble gas is a group 18 element, characterized by a filled outer electron shell. Xenon belongs to this family, whose presumed inertness made the reaction striking.
Xenon hexafluoroplatinate formulation: The formulation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate concerns the identities and proportions of ions in Bartlett’s reaction product. The historical name does not establish a single, simple Xe⁺[PtF₆]⁻ structure.
Xenon: Xenon is a heavy noble gas with a filled outer electron shell. Its oxidation by platinum hexafluoride forms the compound.
Noble gas compounds: Noble gas compounds are chemical substances containing at least one element from group 18. This compound opened the experimentally established chemistry of xenon and other noble gases.
Chemical bond: A chemical bond is an interaction that holds atoms or ions together in a substance. The disputed formulation raises questions about how xenon and platinum fluoride are bound.
X-ray crystallography: X-ray crystallography determines the atomic arrangement in crystalline materials from their diffraction patterns. Structural analysis exposed the limits of treating the product as a simple salt with one fixed composition.
Redox reaction: A redox reaction transfers electrons between chemical species, changing their oxidation states. The synthesis involves electron transfer from xenon to the platinum hexafluoride reagent.
First noble gas compound: The first experimentally recognized noble-gas compound was a xenon–platinum fluoride product reported in 1962. Its historical status rests on Bartlett’s report of this material.

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