Fluorine

9 oxygen ← fluorine → neon - ↑ F ↓ Cl periodic table
General
Name, Symbol, Number	fluorine, F, 9
Chemical series	halogens
Group, Period, Block	17, 2, p
Appearance	Yellowish brown gas
Atomic mass	18.9984032(5) g/mol
Electron configuration	1s2 2s2 2p5
Electrons per shell	2, 7
Physical properties
Phase	gas
Density	(0 °C, 101.325 kPa) 1.7 g/L
Melting point	53.53 K (-219.62 °C, -363.32 °F)
Boiling point	85.03 K (-188.12 °C, -306.62 °F)
Critical point	144.13 K, 5.172 MPa
Heat of fusion	(F2) 0.510 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization	(F2) 6.62 kJ/mol
Heat capacity	(25 °C) (F2) 31.304 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure P/Pa 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T/K 38 44 50 58 69 85
Atomic properties
Crystal structure	cubic
Oxidation states	−1 (strongly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity	3.98 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies (more)	1st: 1681.0 kJ/mol
	2nd: 3374.2 kJ/mol
	3rd: 6050.4 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	50 pm
Atomic radius (calc.)	42 pm
Covalent radius	71 pm
Van der Waals radius	147 pm
Miscellaneous
Magnetic ordering	nonmagnetic
Thermal conductivity	(300 K) 27.7 mW/(m·K)
CAS registry number	7782-41-4
Notable isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of fluorine iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP 19F 100% F is stable with 10 neutrons

Fluorine (chemical symbol F, atomic number 9) is a nonmetal that belongs to a group of chemical elements known as halogens. It is the most chemically reactive and electronegative of all elements. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, pure fluorine is a poisonous gas, pale yellow in color, with the chemical formula F₂. Like other halogens, molecular fluorine is extremely dangerous, causing severe chemical burns on contact with skin.

Discovery and isolation

The name fluorine is derived from the Latin term fluere, meaning "to flow." Minerals containing compounds of fluorine were known for many years before isolation of the element fluorine. For example, the mineral fluorspar (or fluorite), consisting of calcium fluoride, was described in 1530 by Georgius Agricola . He noted that it was useful as a flux—a substance that helps lower the melting temperature of a metal or ore and aids in purification of the desired metal.

In 1670, the glassworker Heinrich Schwanhard found that glass was etched when exposed to acid-treated fluorspar. Karl Scheele and many later researchers—including Humphry Davy, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, Antoine Lavoisier, and Louis Thenard—experimented with hydrofluoric acid (HF), which was readily obtained by treating calcium fluoride (fluorspar) with concentrated sulfuric acid.

It was eventually realized that hydrofluoric acid contained a previously unknown element. This element, however, was not isolated for many years, because of its extreme reactivity. Not only is it difficult to separate from its compounds, but it then immediately attacks the remaining materials of the compound. The derivation of elemental fluorine from hydrofluoric acid is exceptionally dangerous, and early attempts to do so blinded and killed several scientists. These men came to be known as the "fluorine martyrs."

Finally, French chemist Henri Moissan succeeded in isolating fluorine in 1886, through the electrolysis of a mixture of molten potassium fluoride and hydrofluoric acid. For that success, Moissan was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in chemistry. His electrolytic approach continues to be used today for the industrial preparation of fluorine.

The first large-scale production of fluorine was undertaken during World War II, as a step in the making of atomic bombs in the Manhattan project. The fluorine was used to produce uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), which in turn was used to separate two uranium isotopes, ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U, from each other. Today, gaseous UF₆ is used to produce enriched uranium for nuclear power applications.

Notable characteristics

In the periodic table, fluorine is located at the top of group 17 (former group 7A), which is the halogen family. Other halogens are chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine. In addition, it is situated in period 2, between oxygen and neon.

Pure fluorine (chemical formula F₂) is a corrosive gas with a characteristic pungent odor that is detectable in concentrations as low as 20 nanoliters per liter of gas volume. As the most reactive and electronegative of all elements, it readily forms compounds with most other elements. It is far too reactive to be found in elemental form and has such an affinity for most elements, including silicon, that it cannot be prepared or stored in glass vessels. In moist air, it reacts with water to form the equally dangerous hydrofluoric acid.

Fluorine reacts explosively with hydrogen even under cool conditions in the dark. It reacts violently with water to generate hydrofluoric acid and oxygen gas. Various materials—including finely divided metals and glass—burn with a bright flame in a jet of fluorine gas. Moreover, fluorine forms compounds with the noble gases krypton, xenon, and radon. It does not, however, react directly with nitrogen or oxygen.

Notwithstanding its extreme reactivity, methods for the safe handling and transport of fluorine are now available. The element can be stored in containers of steel or Monel metal (alloy of nickel, copper, and other metals), as these materials form surface fluorides that resist further reaction.

Fluorides are compounds in which fluorine occurs in the form of the negatively charged fluoride ion (F⁻), combined with some positively charged counterpart. Compounds of fluorine with metals are among the most stable of salts. When dissolved in water, these salts release fluoride ions. Other forms of fluorine are fluoro-complexes, such as [FeF₄]⁻, and H₂F⁺.

Safety

Both elemental fluorine and fluoride ions are toxic and must be handled with great care. Contact with the skin or eyes should be strictly avoided. All equipment must be passivated before exposure to fluorine.^{[citation needed]}.

Contact with exposed skin may result in the HF molecule rapidly migrating through the skin and flesh into the bone where it reacts with calcium permanently damaging the bone.^{[citation needed]} This may be followed by cardiac arrest brought on by sudden chemical changes within the body, or large, difficult healing open wounds.^{[citation needed]}

Elemental fluorine is a powerful oxidizer which can cause organic material, combustibles, or other flammable materials to ignite.^{[citation needed]}

Compounds

Fluorine can often be substituted for hydrogen when it occurs in organic compounds. Through this mechanism, fluorine can have a very large number of compounds. Fluorine compounds involving noble gases were first synthesised by Neil Bartlett in 1962 - xenon hexafluoroplatinate, XePtF₆, being the first. Fluorides of krypton and radon have also been prepared. Also argon fluorohydride has been prepared, although it is only stable at cryogenic temperatures.

Fluorite (CaF₂) crystals

This element is recovered from fluorite, cryolite, and fluorapatite.

• Ammonium fluoride (NH₄F)
• Antimony pentafluoride (SbF₅)
• Boron trifluoride (BF₃)
• Bromine pentafluoride (BrF₅)
• Bromine trifluoride (BrF₃)
• Caesium fluoride (CsF)
• Calcium fluoride (CaF₂)
• Chlorine pentafluoride (ClF₅)
• Fluorosulfuric acid (FSO₃(H)
• Hydrofluoric acid (HF)
• Iodine pentafluoride (IF₅)
• Iodine heptafluoride (IF₇)
• Lithium fluoride (LiF)
• Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃)
• Nitrosyl fluoride (NOF)
• Nitryl fluoride (NO₂F)
• Phosphorus trifluoride (PF₃)
• Phosphorus pentafluoride (PF₅)
• Plutonium fluoride (PuF₄)
• Potassium fluoride (KF)
• Radon difluoride (RnF₂)
• Silver(I) fluoride (AgF)
• Silver(II) fluoride (AgF₂)
• Sodium fluoride (NaF)
• Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆)
• Rubidium fluoride (RbF)
• Thionyl fluoride (SOF₂)
• Tungsten(VI) fluoride (WF₆)
• Uranium hexafluoride (UF₆)
• Xenon hexafluoroplatinate (XePtF₆)
• Xenon tetrafluoride (XeF₄)

Applications

Atomic fluorine and molecular fluorine are used for plasma etching in semiconductor manufacturing, flat panel display production and MEMS fabrication. Other uses:

• Hydrofluoric acid (chemical formula HF) is used to etch glass in light bulbs and other products.
• Fluorine is indirectly used in the production of low friction plastics such as Teflon, and in halons such as Freon.
• Along with some of its compounds, fluorine is used in the production of pure uranium from uranium hexafluoride and in the synthesis of numerous commercial fluorochemicals, including vitally important pharmaceuticals, agrochemical compounds, lubricants, and textiles.
• Fluorochlorohydrocarbons are used extensively in air conditioning and in refrigeration. Chlorofluorocarbons have been banned for these applications because they contribute to the ozone hole.
• Sulfur hexafluoride is an extremely inert and nontoxic gas, and a member of a class of compounds that are potent greenhouse gases.
• Many important agents for general anaesthesia such as sevoflurane, desflurane, and isoflurane are fluorohydrocarbon derivatives.
• Sodium hexafluoroaluminate (cryolite), is used in the electrolysis of aluminium.
• Compounds of fluorine, including sodium fluoride, are used in toothpaste to prevent dental cavities. These compounds are also added to municipal water supplies, a process called water fluoridation, though a combination of health concerns and urban legends has sometimes led to controversy.
• In much higher concentrations, sodium fluoride has been used as an insecticide, especially against cockroaches.
• Fluorides have been used in the past to help molten metal flow, hence the name.
• ¹⁸F, a radioactive isotope that emits positrons, is often used in positron emission tomography because of its half-life of 110 minutes.

Some researchers including US space scientists in the early 1960s have studied elemental fluorine gas as a possible rocket propellant due to its exceptionally high specific impulse. The experiments failed because fluorine was so difficult to handle.

See also

• Fluorocarbon
• Isotopes of fluorine
• Fluorine compounds
• Halide minerals

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Los Alamos National Laboratory – Fluorine

External links

• WebElements.com – Fluorine
• It's Elemental – Fluorine
• Picture of liquid fluorine – chemie-master.de
• Chemsoc.org
• Periodic Table of Elements
• Discovery of fluorine

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