Radon difluoride


Radon difluoride is a compound of radon, a radioactive noble gas. Radon reacts readily with fluorine to form a solid compound, but this decomposes on attempted vaporization and its exact composition is uncertain. Calculations suggest that it may be ionic, unlike all other known binary noble [gas compound]s. The usefulness of radon compounds is limited because of the radioactivity of radon. The longest-lived isotope, radon-222, has a half-life of only 3.82 days, which decays by α-emission to yield polonium-218.

Preparation

When radon is heated to 400 °C with fluorine, radon difluoride is formed.

Reactions

Radon difluoride can be reduced to radon and hydrogen fluoride when heated with hydrogen gas at 500 °C.