Inert gas compounds

Turner and Pimentel, Preparation of Inert Gas Compounds by Matrix Isolation Technique , H. H. Hyman, ed. Noble Gas Compounds , University of Chicago Press (1963). 

Inert Gas Compounds. - A recent development in the investigation of noble gas compounds has been the synthesis by Kriachtchev et al34 of the compound HArF by the photolysis of hydrogen fluoride in a solid Argon... 

Table 3 Comparison of the properties of HF and the inert gas compound HArF.

The stmcture of the unexpected inert gas compound, XeFg has been investigated in great detail by Bartell, et The fluorine atoms execute large amplitude motions... 

For a given fluoride, only the most concentrated, lowest stage compound is entered. Although properly an oxyfluoride rather than a fluonde, XeOp4 is included for reference to the other inert gas compounds... 

The flask A is heated in a suitable bath until all the solid has dissolved a stream of inert gas may be passed through the apparatus during this operation. The flask is allowed to cool in order that the compound may crystallise out. 

Argon is two and one half times as soluble in water as nitrogen, having about the same solubility as oxygen. Argon is colorless and odorless, both as a gas and liquid. Argon is considered to be a very inert gas and is not known to form true chemical compounds, as do krypton, xenon, and radon. 

The introduction of additional alkyl groups mostly involves the formation of a bond between a carbanion and a carbon attached to a suitable leaving group. S,.,2-reactions prevail, although radical mechanisms are also possible, especially if organometallic compounds are involved. Since many carbanions and radicals are easily oxidized by oxygen, working under inert gas is advised, until it has been shown for each specific reaction that air has no harmful effect on yields. 

Initiators, usually from 0.02 to 2.0 wt % of the monomer of organic peroxides or azo compounds, are dissolved in the reaction solvents and fed separately to the kettie. Since oxygen is often an inhibitor of acryUc polymerizations, its presence is undesirable. When the polymerization is carried out below reflux temperatures, low oxygen levels are obtained by an initial purge with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen. A blanket of the inert gas is then maintained over the polymerization mixture. The duration of the polymerization is usually 24 h (95). 

In order for a soHd to bum it must be volatilized, because combustion is almost exclusively a gas-phase phenomenon. In the case of a polymer, this means that decomposition must occur. The decomposition begins in the soHd phase and may continue in the Hquid (melt) and gas phases. Decomposition produces low molecular weight chemical compounds that eventually enter the gas phase. Heat from combustion causes further decomposition and volatilization and, therefore, further combustion. Thus the burning of a soHd is like a chain reaction. For a compound to function as a flame retardant it must intermpt this cycle in some way. There are several mechanistic descriptions by which flame retardants modify flammabiUty. Each flame retardant actually functions by a combination of mechanisms. For example, metal hydroxides such as Al(OH)2 decompose endothermically (thermal quenching) to give water (inert gas dilution). In addition, in cases where up to 60 wt % of Al(OH)2 may be used, such as in polyolefins, the physical dilution effect cannot be ignored. 

Inert Gas Dilution. Inert gas dilution involves the use of additives that produce large volumes of noncombustible gases when the polymer is decomposed. These gases dilute the oxygen supply to the flame or dilute the fuel concentration below the flammability limit. Metal hydroxides, metal carbonates, and some nitrogen-producing compounds function in this way as flame retardants (see Flame retardants, antimony and other inorganic compounds). 

In 1954 the surface fluorination of polyethylene sheets by using a soHd CO2 cooled heat sink was patented (44). Later patents covered the fluorination of PVC (45) and polyethylene bottles (46). Studies of surface fluorination of polymer films have been reported (47). The fluorination of polyethylene powder was described (48) as a fiery intense reaction, which was finally controlled by dilution with an inert gas at reduced pressures. Direct fluorination of polymers was achieved in 1970 (8,49). More recently, surface fluorinations of poly(vinyl fluoride), polycarbonates, polystyrene, and poly(methyl methacrylate), and the surface fluorination of containers have been described (50,51). Partially fluorinated poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polyamides such as nylon have excellent soil release properties as well as high wettabiUty (52,53). The most advanced direct fluorination technology in the area of single-compound synthesis and synthesis of high performance fluids is currently practiced by 3M Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota, and by Exfluor Research Corp. of Austin, Texas. 

Metal teUurides for semiconductors are made by direct melting, melting with excess teUurium and volatilizing the excess under reduced pressure, passing teUurium vapor in an inert gas carrier over a heated metal, and high temperature reduction of oxy compounds with hydrogen or ammonia. 

Another purpose of inerting is to control oxygen concentrations where process materials are subject to peroxide formation or oxidation to form unstable compounds (acetylides, etc.) or where materials in the process are degraded by atmospheric oxygen. An inert gas supply of sufficient capacity must be ensured. The supply pressure must be monitored continuously. 

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