First xenon compoundIn 1962, the first compound of any “inert gas” was made by Neil Barlett by reacting platinum hexafluorideand xenon to form XePtF6, a yellow-orange solid that was stable at room temperature. The previous autumn, he had prepared a remarkable compound of oxygen with platinum hexafluoride. In that compound, [O2]+[PtF6]–, the platinum hexafluoride, PtF6 was such an extreme oxidizer that the oxygen formed a positive cation. Interestingly, the energy to remove an electron from oxygen (12.2 eV), he realized, was extremely close to that for xenon (12.13 eV). This suggested a xenon compound could be made in a similar way. His success ended the half-century belief that xenon was an inert gas, and is since known as a “noble” gas.« |
