Structure
The structure of "xenon hexafluoroplatinate" is probably not Xe+−. The main problem with this formulation is "Xe+", which would be a radical and would dimerize or abstract an F atom to give XeF+. Thus, Bartlett discovered that Xe undergoes chemical reactions, but the nature of his initial mustard yellow product is complex. Further work indicates that Bartlett's product probably contained −, −, and . The title "compound" is a salt, consisting of an octahedral anionic fluoride complex of platinum and various xenon cations.
It has been proposed that the platinum fluoride forms a negatively charged polymeric network with xenon or xenon fluoride cations held in its instices. A preparation of "XePtF6" in HF solution results in a solid which has been characterized as a n polymeric network associated with XeF+. This result is evidence for such a polymeric structure of xenon hexafluoroplatinate.
Read more about this topic: Xenon Hexafluoroplatinate
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“When a house is tottering to its fall,
The strain lies heaviest on the weakest part,
One tiny crack throughout the structure spreads,
And its own weight soon brings it toppling down.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
“Each structure and institution here was so primitive that you could at once refer it to its source; but our buildings commonly suggest neither their origin nor their purpose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Man is more disposed to domination than freedom; and a structure of dominion not only gladdens the eye of the master who rears and protects it, but even its servants are uplifted by the thought that they are members of a whole, which rises high above the life and strength of single generations.”
—Karl Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767–1835)