Titanium(IV) fluoride is the
inorganic compound
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemi ...
with the
formula Ti F4. It is a white
hygroscopic
Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption or adsorption from the surrounding environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water molecules become suspended among the substance ...
solid. In contrast to the other tetrahalides of titanium, it adopts a polymeric structure. In common with the other tetrahalides, TiF
4 is a strong
Lewis acid
A Lewis acid (named for the American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis) is a chemical species that contains an empty orbital which is capable of accepting an electron pair from a Lewis base to form a Lewis adduct. A Lewis base, then, is any sp ...
.
Preparation, structure, reactions
The traditional method involves treatment of
titanium tetrachloride
Titanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. is a volatile liquid. Upon contact with humid air, it forms thick clouds ...
with excess
hydrogen fluoride:
:TiCl
4 + 4 HF → TiF
4 + 4 HCl
Purification is by sublimation, which involves reversible cracking of the polymeric structure.
X-ray crystallography reveals that the Ti centres are octahedral, but conjoined in an unusual columnar structure.
TiF
4 forms adducts with many ligands. One example is ''cis''-TiF
4(MeCN)
2, which is formed by treatment with
acetonitrile.
References
Fluorides
Titanium halides
Titanium(IV) compounds
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