Fluorine through Astatine, the Halogens

Abstract

Water. Hydrogen fluoride, HF, a colorless, intensely corrosive gas, even for glass, is readily soluble in water to form a weak acid (distinction from the other hydrogen halides), ionized in 1-dM solution to about 10 %. A constant boiling mixture at 112 °C is about 22 M, but the more common concentrated aqueous solution (~ 49 % HF) is about 29 M. Both the solution and its vapor act on the flesh with very little warning to produce burns that are painful and slow to heal. Unlike the other hydrogen halides, HF is not a reducing acid.