| Names | |
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| Systematic IUPAC name Polonium tetrachloride | |
| Identifiers | |
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| Properties | |
| Chemical formula | PoCl4 |
| Molar mass | 350.79 g/mol |
| Appearance | Bright yellow crystalline solid |
| Melting point | ≈ 300 °C (in chlorine) |
| Boiling point | 390 °C (734 °F; 663 K) |
| Solubility in water | soluble, but rather slow hydrolysis |
| Solubility | very soluble in hydrochloric acid and thionyl chloride, moderately soluble in ethanol and acetone, decomposes in dilute nitric acid |
| Related compounds | |
| Other anions | Polonium tetrafluoride Polonium tetrabromide Polonium tetraiodide |
| Other cations | Selenium tetrachloride Tellurium tetrachloride |
| Related compounds | Polonium dichloride |
| Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C , 100 kPa). Infobox references | |
Polonium tetrachloride (also known as polonium(IV) chloride) is a chemical compound with the formula PoCl4. The salt is a hygroscopic bright yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Above 200 °C, it tends to decompose into polonium dichloride and excess chlorine, similar to selenium tetrachloride and tellurium tetrachloride.
Structure
Polonium tetrachloride is either monoclinic or triclinic.
Appearance
Polonium tetrachloride is bright yellow at room temperature. At its melting point (300 °C), it becomes straw yellow, and at its boiling point (390 °C), it becomes scarlet. Its vapours are purple-brown until 500 °C, when they turn blue-green.
Preparation
Polonium tetrachloride may be prepared by:
- halogenation of polonium dioxide with dry hydrogen chloride, gaseous thionyl chloride, or phosphorus pentachloride;
- dissolving of polonium metal in hydrochloric acid;
- heating polonium dioxide to 200 °C in carbon tetrachloride vapour;
- reaction of polonium metal with dry chlorine gas in 200 °C.
Chemistry
Polonium tetrachloride forms a complex with two moles of tributyl phosphate.
Like selenium tetrachloride and tellurium tetrachloride, polonium tetrachloride forms PoCl
5 and PoCl
6 halogen complexes.
References
- ^ Holleman, Arnold Frederik; Wiberg, Egon (2001), Wiberg, Nils (ed.), Inorganic Chemistry, translated by Eagleson, Mary; Brewer, William, San Diego/Berlin: Academic Press/De Gruyter, p. 594, ISBN 0-12-352651-5
| Polonium compounds | |
|---|---|
| Polonium(−II) | |
| Polonium(II) | |
| Polonium(IV) | |
| Polonium(VI) | |