Monosodium xenate is the sodium salt of xenic acid with formula NaHXeO₄·1.5H₂O. It is a powerful

oxidizer An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...

. It is a highly reactive compound of xenon. The dialkali xenates do not appear to exist, as xenate disproportions in more alkaline conditions.

Synthesis

Monosodium xenate can be made by mixing solutions of xenon trioxide and

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkal ...

, followed by freezing to

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wi ...

temperatures, and dehydrating in a vacuum.

Properties

Monosodium xenate is stable when heated to 160 °C in a pure state. However it can explode when subjected to mechanical shock, or lower temperatures when mixed with XeO₃. Sodium xenate is slightly toxic with a medium lethal dose between 15 and 30 mg/kg of body weight in mice. Xenate leaves the body very quickly. In mice, the level in blood drops by half in twenty seconds due to it being decomposed and exhaled. In the peritoneum the half-life extends to six minutes.

References

{{xenon compounds Xenon(VI) compounds Oxidizing agents Sodium compounds