Everything about Chlorine Trifluoride totally explained
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Chlorine trifluoride is the
chemical compound with the formula ClF
3. This colourless, poisonous, corrosive and very reactive
gas condenses to a pale-greenish yellow liquid, the form in which it's most often sold (pressurized at room temperature). The compound is primarily of interest as a component in rocket fuels, in industrial cleaning and etching operations primarily in the semiconductor industry
, nuclear reactor fuel processing and other industrial operations.
Preparation, structure, and properties
It was first reported by Ruff and Krug who prepared it by fluorination of
chlorine; this also produced ClF and the mixture was separated by distillation.
» 3 F
2 + Cl
2 → 2 ClF
3
ClF
3 is approximately
T-shaped. This structure is explicable in the context of
VSEPR theory, which considers also lone pairs of electrons as occupying two equatorial positions of a hypothetic trigonal bipyramid. The elongated Cl-F
axial bonds are consistent with
hypervalent bonding.
Pure ClF
3 is stable to 180° in glass vessels, but above this temperature it decomposes by a
free radical mechanism to the elements.
The main use of ClF
3 is to produce
uranium hexafluoride, UF
6 as part of nuclear fuel processing and reprocessing, by the reaction:
» U + 3ClF
3 →UF
6 + 3ClF
Hazards
ClF
3 is a very strong
oxidizing and fluorination agent. ClF
3 is extremely reactive with most inorganic and organic materials and will initiate the combustion of many materials without an ignition source and these reactions are often violent or in some cases explosive. Several metals give
chlorides and
fluorides,
phosphorus yields PCl
3 plus PF
5,
sulfur SCl
2 plus SF
4. ClF
3 is also violently water reactive in which it hydrolyses to a variety of hazardous chemicals such as
hydrofluoric acid.
H2S explodes on being mixed with ClF
3 at room temperature.
The ability to surpass the oxidizing ability of oxygen leads to corrosivity against oxide-containing materials often thought as incombustible. In an industrial accident, a spill of 900 kg of chlorine trifluoride burned itself through 30 cm of concrete and 90 cm of gravel beneath. Any equipment that comes into contact with chlorine trifluoride must be carefully selected and cleaned, because any contamination can ignite on contact.
Exposure of larger amounts of chlorine trifluoride, as a liquid or as a gas, ignites tissue. The hydrolysis reaction with water is violent and exposure results in a thermal burn. The product of hydrolysis is
hydrofluoric acid, which is corrosive to human tissue, absorbs through skin, selectively attacks bone and stimulates pain nerves, and causes a potentially lethal poisoning.
Military applications
Under the
code name N-stoff ("substance N"), chlorine trifluoride was investigated for military applications by the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in
Nazi Germany from slightly before the start of
World War II. Tests were made against mock-ups of the
Maginot Line fortifications, and it was found to be an effective combined
incendiary weapon and
poison gas. From
1938 construction commenced on a partly
bunkered, partly subterranean 31.76 km² munitions factory at
Falkenhagen
which was intended to produce 50
tonnes of N-stoff per month, plus
Sarin. However by the time it was captured by the advancing
Red Army in
1944, the factory had produced only about 30 to 50 tonnes, at a cost of over 100
German Reichsmark per
kilogram. N-stoff was never used in war.
Rocket propellant
Chlorine trifluoride has been investigated as a high-performance storable oxidizer in
rocket propellant systems. Handling concerns, however, prevented its use.
Clark summarized the difficulties, "It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is
hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water—with which it reacts explosively."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chlorine Trifluoride'.
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