Molecular Hexafluorides

The chemistries and physics of the molecular hexafluorides are well-developed. The hexafluorides of radioactive elements are insufficiently developed. Sulfur hexafluoride is an extreme unreactive, even physiologically inert gas. It is the model compound for octahedral symmetry. Xenon hexafluoride is not monomeric in the solid and liquid or dissolved state, and the molecule does not adopt the octahedral structure. Nine transition metal hexafluorides exists that are best prepared by direct fluorination of the metals. Molybdenum and tungsten hexafluoride have been known for more than 80 years and are the only transition metal hexafluorides that are commercially available. Both compounds are made from the elements.