Inert Gases

Abstract

The hydrolysis reaction can be violent and in general must be carried out by passing xenon hexafluoride vapor with inert gas into water. In as much as the reactions of noble gas compounds are highly irreversible, the oxidizing power can only be measured thermodynamically. Yet the exact determination of bond strengths is in question as compared to the values determined from heats of formation of gaseous xenon disfluoride, xenon tetrafluoride, and xenon hexafluoride by calorimetry and photoionization mass spectroscopy. Xenon hexafluoride reacts at room tem- perature with hydrogen, yielding xenon gas and hydrogen fluoride. It reacts with mercury to liberate xenon gas and mercuric fluoride. Xenon hexafluoride with cyclopentane yields perfluorocyclopentane. It reacts with HCL to yield chlorine, hydrogen fluoride, and xenon gas; with NH3 it yields ammonium fluoride, nitrogen, and xenon gases. The interval between xenon and radon is much longer than that between lighter inert gases, due to the filling of 4f and 5d orbitals.