Hydrogen fluoride, acid dissociation constant

Because of the small size of the fluoride ion, F participates in coordination stmctures of high rank. Tantalum and niobium form stable hexafluorotantalate and hexafluoroniobate ions and hydrogen fluoride attacks these usually acid-resistant metals. Hydrogen fluoride in water is a weak acid. Two dissociation constants are... 

It is known that the order of acidity of hydrogen halides (HX, where X = F, Cl, Br, I) in the gas phase can be successfully predicted by quantum chemical considerations, namely, F < Cl < Br < I. However, in aqueous solution, whereas hydrogen chloride, bromide, and iodide completely dissociate in aqueous solutions, hydrogen fluoride shows a small dissociation constant. This phenomenon is explained by studying free energy changes associated with the chemical equilibrium HX + H2O + HjO in the solu-... 

A violent explosion followed the use of magnesium perchlorate to dry wet fluo-robutane. The latter was presumed to have hydrolysed to give hydrogen fluoride which had liberated perchloric acid, explosively unstable when anhydrous. (This explanation seems unlikely in view of the large disparity between dissociation constants of the two acids). Magnesium perchlorate is unsuitable for drying acidic or flammable materials calcium sulfate would be suitable. 

The term K cd is commonly known as the acidity constant (or the dissociation constant) of the acid. For ethanoic acid, K 25°C) = 1.8 X lO moldm, the low value confirming that very few of the acid molecules have ionized. Hydrogen fluoride ... 

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