Structure
Xenon difluoride is a linear molecule with an Xe–F bond length of 197.73±0.15 pm in the vapour stage, and 200 pm in the solid phase. The packing arrangement in solid XeF2 shows that the fluorine atoms of neighbouring molecules avoid the equatorial region of each XeF2 molecule. This agrees with the prediction of VSEPR theory, which predicts that there are 3 pairs of non-bonding electrons around the equatorial region of the xenon atom.
At high pressures, novel, non-molecular forms of xenon difluoride can be obtained. Under a pressure of ~50 GPa, XeF2 transforms into a semiconductor consisting of XeF4 units linked in a two-dimensional structure, like graphite. At even higher pressures, above 70 GPa, it becomes metallic, forming a three-dimensional structure containing XeF8 units. However, a recent theoretical study has put these experimental results in doubt.
Read more about this topic: Xenon Difluoride
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