Zinc halides melting points

Zincill) chloride. ZnCl2, is the only important halide—it is prepared by standard methods, but cannot be obtained directly by heating the hydrated salt. It has a crystal lattice in which each zinc is surrounded tetrahedrally by four chloride ions, but the low melting point and solubility in organic solvents indicate some covalent... 

One of the most interesting aspects of molten salt chemistry is the readiness with which metals dissolve. FOr example, the alkali halides dissolve large amounts of the corresponding alkali metal, and some systems (e.g., cesium in cesium halides] are completely miscible at all temperatures above the melting point. On the other hand, the halides of zinc, lead, and tin dissolve such small amounts of the corresponding free metal that special analytical techniques must be devised in order to estimate the concentration accurately. 

All four halides are known. In the gas phase, they consist of linear X-Zn-X molecules with intemuclear distances (in A) as a function of X as follows F, 1.81 Cl, 2.05 Br, 2.21 I, 2.38. The diflnoride has the highest melting point (872 °C), the melting points rising thereafter from chloride to bromide to iodide (275, 394, and 446 °C, respectively). ZnF2 may be prepared by the action of HF on the metal or by the action of heat on the tetraflnoroborate Zn(BF4)2. It has the typically ionic 6 3 rutile structure in which zinc is six coordinated by... 

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