Potassium bifluoride
| Names | |
|---|---|
| IUPAC name
Potassium bifluoride
| |
| Other names
Potassium hydrogen difluoride
| |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol)
|
|
| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.029.233 |
PubChem CID
|
|
| RTECS number |
|
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
|
|
| |
| |
| Properties | |
| HF2K | |
| Molar mass | 78.103 g/mol |
| Appearance | colourless solid |
| Density | 2.37 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 239 °C |
| Boiling point | decomp. |
| Structure | |
| monoclinic | |
| Hazards | |
| Flash point | non flammable |
| Related compounds | |
Other anions
|
Potassium fluoride |
Other cations
|
Sodium bifluoride, ammonium bifluoride |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
| |
Potassium bifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula KHF2. This colourless salt consists of the potassium cation and the bifluoride (HF2−) anion. The salt is used in etchant for glass. Sodium bifluoride is related and is also of commercial use as an etchant as well as in cleaning products.[1]
Nature of the chemical bond in the bifluoride anion
Potassium bifluoride, as its name indicates, contains a bifluoride, or hydrogen(difluoride) anion: HF2−. This centrosymmetric triatomic anion features the strongest known hydrogen bond, with a F−H length of 114 pm,[2] and a bond energy greater than 155 kJ mol−1.[3]
Synthesis and reactions
The salt was prepared by Edmond Frémy who decomposed it to generate, for the first time, hydrogen fluoride. Potassium bifluoride is prepared by treating potassium carbonate or potassium hydroxide with hydrofluoric acid:
- 2 HF + KOH → KHF2 + H2O
The electrolysis of KHF2 was used by Henri Moissan to isolate the element fluorine in 1886.
A related material containing two equivalents of HF is also known, KH2F3 (CAS#12178-06-2, m.p. 71.7 C). The industrial production of fluorine entails the electrolysis of molten KH2F3.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Jean Aigueperse, Paul Mollard, Didier Devilliers, Marius Chemla, Robert Faron, Renée Romano, Jean Pierre Cuer, “Fluorine Compounds, Inorganic” in Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. doi:10.1002/14356007.a11 307
- ^ Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8.
- ^ Emsley, J. (1980) Very strong hydrogen bonds, Chemical Society Reviews, 9, 91-124.