Tungsten tetrafluoride is an

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

with the formula WF₄. This little studied solid has been invoked, together with

tungsten pentafluoride Tungsten(V) fluoride is an inorganic compound with the formula WF5. It is a hygroscopic yellow solid. Like most pentafluorides, it adopts a tetrameric structure, consisting of F5sub>4 molecules. In this way, each W center achieves octahedral coo ...

, as an intermediate in the

chemical vapor deposition Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical CVD, the wafer (electro ...

of tungsten films using

tungsten hexafluoride Tungsten(VI) fluoride, also known as tungsten hexafluoride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a toxic, corrosive, colorless gas, with a density of about (roughly 11 times heavier than air). It is the densest known gas under stand ...

Structure

Tungsten tetrafluoride was found to have polymeric structure based on

Mössbauer spectroscopy Mössbauer spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique based on the Mössbauer effect. This effect, discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer (sometimes written "Moessbauer", German: "Mößbauer") in 1958, consists of the nearly recoil-free emission and a ...

Preparation

It has been prepared by treatment of the

coordination complex A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...

WCl₄(MeCN)₂ with AsF₃.Meinert, Hasso; Dimitrov, A. "On the chemistry of tungsten tetrafluoride" Zeitschrift für Chemie (1976), 16(1), 29-30. It has been produced by from the reaction of WF₆ and a W filament at 600-800 °C.

Reactions

The compound can be re-oxidized to W(VI) compounds by treatment with fluorine and chlorine: :WF₄ + X₂ → WF₄X₂ Upon heating, it

disproportionates In chemistry, disproportionation, sometimes called dismutation, is a redox reaction in which one compound of intermediate oxidation state converts to two compounds, one of higher and one of lower oxidation state. The reverse of disproportionatio ...

to WF₆ and tungsten metal.

References

{{fluorine compounds Tungsten halides Fluorides Tungsten(IV) compounds