Antimony Pentachloride
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Antimony pentachloride is a chemical compound with the formula SbCl5. It is a colourless oil, but typical samples are yellowish due to dissolved
chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...
. Owing to its tendency to hydrolyse to hydrochloric acid, SbCl5 is a highly corrosive substance and must be stored in glass or
PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...
containers.


Preparation and structure

Antimony pentachloride is prepared by passing chlorine gas into molten antimony trichloride: :SbCl3 + Cl2 → SbCl5 Gaseous SbCl5 has a trigonal bipyramidal structure.


Reactions

This compounds reacts with
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
to form antimony pentoxide and hydrochloric acid: :2 SbCl5 + 5 H2O → Sb2O5 + 10 HCl The mono- and tetrahydrates are known, SbCl5·H2O and SbCl5·4H2O. This compound forms adducts with many Lewis bases. SbCl5 is a soft Lewis acid and its ECW model parameters are EA = 3.64 and CA = 10.42. It is used as the standard Lewis acid in the Gutmann scale of Lewis basicity. It is also a strong oxidizing agent. For example aromatic ethers are oxidized to their radical cations according to the following stoichiometry: :3SbCl5 + 2 ArH → 2(ArH+)(SbCl6) + SbCl3


Applications

Antimony pentachloride is used as a
polymerization In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many fo ...
catalyst and for the chlorination of organic compounds.


Precautions

Antimony pentachloride is a highly corrosive substance that should be stored away from heat and moisture. It is a chlorinating agent and, in the presence of moisture, it releases hydrogen chloride gas. Because of this, it may etch even stainless-steel tools (such as needles), if handled in a moist atmosphere. It should not be handled with non-fluorinated plastics (such as plastic syringes, plastic septa, or needles with plastic fittings), since it melts and carbonizes plastic materials.Shekarchi, M.; Behbahani, F. K ''Catal. Lett.'' 2017 ''147'' 2950. doi:10.1007/s10562-017-2194-2


References


External links

{{Chlorides Antimony(V) compounds Chlorides Metal halides Oxidizing agents