Titanium complexes nitrogen-stabilized

The -titanium (TV) atom is hard, ie, not very polarizable, and can be expected to form its most stable complexes with hard ligands, eg, fluoride, chloride, oxygen, and nitrogen. Soft or relatively polarizable ligands containing second- and third-row elements or multiple bonds should give less stable complexes. The stability depends on the coordination number of titanium, on whether the ligand is mono- or polydentate, and on the mechanism of the reaction used to measure stability. 

Zirconium metal (mp 1855°C 15°C), like titanium, is hard and corrosion resistant, resembling stainless steel in appearance. It is made by the Kroll process (Section 17-A-l). Hafnium metal (mp 2222°C 30°C) is similar. Like titanium, these metals are fairly resistant to acids, and they are best dissolved in HF where the formation of anionic fluoro complexes is important in the stabilization of the solutions. Zirconium will burn in air at high temperatures, reacting more rapidly with nitrogen than with oxygen, to give a mixture of nitride, oxide, and oxide nitride (Zr2ON2). 

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