Osmium hexafluoride


Osmium hexafluoride, also osmium fluoride, is a compound of osmium and fluorine, and one of the seventeen known binary hexafluorides.

Synthesis

Osmium hexafluoride is made by a direct reaction of osmium metal exposed to an excess of elemental fluorine gas at 300 °C.

Description

Osmium hexafluoride is a yellow crystalline solid that melts at 33.4 °C and boils at 47.5 °C. The solid structure measured at −140 °C is orthorhombic space group Pnma. Lattice parameters are a = 9.387 Å, b = 8.543 Å, and c = 4.944 Å. There are four formula units per unit cell, giving a density of 5.09 g·cm−3.
The OsF6 molecule itself has octahedral molecular geometry, which has point group. The Os–F bond length is 1.827 Å.
Partial hydrolysis of OsF6 produces OsOF4.