Hydrogen fluoride

Hydrogen fluoride (fluorane) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a very poisonous, colorless gas or liquid that dissolves in water to yield an aqueous solution termed hydrofluoric acid. It is the principal industrial source of fluorine, often in the form of hydrofluoric acid, and is an important feedstock in the preparation of many important compounds including pharmaceuticals and polymers, e.g. polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). HF is also widely used in the petrochemical industry as a component of superacids. Due to strong and extensive hydrogen bonding, it boils at near room temperature, much higher than other hydrogen halides. Hydrogen fluoride is an extremely dangerous gas, forming corrosive and penetrating hydrofluoric acid upon contact with moisture. The gas can also cause blindness by rapid destruction of the corneas. In 1771 Carl Wilhelm Scheele prepared the aqueous solution, hydrofluoric acid in large quantities, although hydrofluoric acid had been known in the glass industry before then. French chemist Edmond Frémy (1814–1894) is credited with discovering hydrogen fluoride (HF) while trying to isolate fluorine. HF is diatomic in the gas-phase. As a liquid, HF forms relatively strong hydrogen bonds, hence its relatively high boiling point. Solid HF consists of zig-zag chains of HF molecules. The HF molecules, with a short covalent H–F bond of 95 pm length, are linked to neighboring molecules by intermolecular H–F distances of 155 pm. Liquid HF also consists of chains of HF molecules, but the chains are shorter, consisting on average of only five or six molecules. Hydrogen fluoride does not boil until 20 °C in contrast to the heavier hydrogen halides, which boil between −85 °C (−120 °F) and −35 °C (−30 °F). This hydrogen bonding between HF molecules gives rise to high viscosity in the liquid phase and lower than expected pressure in the gas phase. hydrofluoric acid HF is miscible with water (dissolves in any proportion). In contrast, the other hydrogen halides exhibit limiting solubilities in water.