Sulfur chloride pentafluoride
Encyclopedia
Sulfur chloride pentafluoride is an inorganic compound
Inorganic compound
Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 with the formula . It exists as a colorless gas at room temperature and is highly toxic. The compound has an octahedral geometry with symmetry. Sulfur chloride pentafluoride is the only commercially available reagent for addition to aliphatic compounds.

In contrast to the high reactivity and toxicity of , sulfur hexafluoride
Sulfur hexafluoride
Sulfur hexafluoride is an inorganic, colorless, odorless, and non-flammable greenhouse gas. has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached to a central sulfur atom. It is a hypervalent molecule. Typical for a nonpolar gas, it is poorly soluble in water but soluble in...

 , is inert and nontoxic despite having a very closely related chemical formula.

Reactivity

Sulfur chloride pentafluoride added under free-radical conditions across olefins. In this process, the chlorine group and the groups add to opposite ends of the double bond as shown in the following reaction with propene:
+ → CH3CH(Cl)CH2SF5


The reaction is of interest because many such molecules exhibit biological activity. The addition reaction is done in the presence of
Triethylborane
Triethylborane , also called triethylborine and triethylboron, is an organoborane , a near-colorless to yellowish transparent liquid with pungent ether-like odor. Its chemical formula can be written as C6H15B, or 3B, or 3B, or Et3B.Triethylborane is strongly pyrophoric, igniting spontaneously in...

 and at low temperatures around -30 °C. is used similarly.

is also a precursor to O(SF5)2 (by oxidation) and F2NSF5 (from tetrafluorohydrazine
Tetrafluorohydrazine
Tetrafluorohydrazine, , is a colourless, reactive inorganic gas. It is a fluorinated analog of hydrazine. It is a highly hazardous chemical. In presence of organic materials it explodes....

).

Synthesis

Sulfur chloropentafluoride is synthesized by running either of the following routes:
+ + → +
+ →
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