Sulfur tetrachloride is an inorganic compound with chemical formula SCl4. It has only been obtained as an unstable pale yellow solid. The corresponding SF4 is a stable, useful reagent.
It melts with simultaneous decomposition above −20 °C.[1]
Its solid structure is uncertain. It is probably the salt SCl3+Cl−, since related salts are known with noncoordinating anions.[2][3] In contrast to this tetrachloride, SF4 is a neutral molecule.[4]
Reactions
It decomposes above −30 °C (242 K) to sulfur dichloride and chlorine.
^Christian, Beverly H.; Collins, Michael J.; Gillespie, Ronald J.; Sawyer, Jeffery F. "Preparations, Raman spectra, and crystal structures of (SCl3)(SbCl6), (SeCl3)(SbCl6), (SBr1.2Cl1.8)(SbCl6), (TeCl3)(AlCl4) (triclinic modification), (TeCl3)(SbF6), (TeCl3)(AsF6), and (TeF3)2(SO4)" Inorganic Chemistry 1986, volume 25, 777-88. doi:10.1021/ic00226a012
^Goettel, J. T., Kostiuk, N. and Gerken, M. (2013), The Solid-State Structure of SF4: The Final Piece of the Puzzle . Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 52: 8037–8040. doi:10.1002/anie.201302917
^Holleman-Wiberg, Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie, 101. Auflage, de Gruyter Verlag 1995 ISBN3-11-012641-9(in German)
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