Nonmetal halides, addition

Nonmetal Halides. Vigorous or explosive reactions occur with phosphorus tribromide on addition of drops of water,20 phosphorus trichloride, phosphorus pentachloride,21 diselenium dichloride,22 sulfur dichloride, boron tribromide, sulfur dibromide,17 seleninyl bromide,23 phosphoryl chloride, sulfinyl fluoride, silicon tetrachloride, and silicon tetrafluoride.24... 

Almost all of the reactions that the practicing inorganic chemist observes in the laboratory take place in solution. Although water is the best-known solvent, it is not the only one of importance to the chemist. The organic chemist often uses nonpolar solvents such as carbon tetrachloride and benzene to dissolve nonpolar compounds. These are also of interest to the inorganic chemist and, in addition, polar solvents such as liquid ammonia, sulfuric acid, glacial acetic acid, sulfur dioxide, and various nonmetal halides have been studied extensively. The study of solution chemistry is intimately connected with acid-base theory, and the separation of this material into a separate chapter is merely a matter of convenience. For example, nonaqueous solvents are often interpreted in terms of the solvent system concept, the formation of solvates involve acid-base interactions, and even redox reactions may be included within the Usanovich definition of acid-base reactions. 

Similarly, many nonmetal halides combine with additional halogen ... 

In addition to functioning as Lewis acids, boron halides undergo many other types of reactions. As is typical of most compounds containing covalent bonds between a nonmetal and a halogen, the boron halides react vigorously with water to yield boric acid and the corresponding hydrogen halide. 

Perhaps the best-known reaction of alkyl halides is oxidative addition to another atom. For elements (usually, nonmetals or metalloids) having... 

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