Reactivity of transition metal fluorides. III. Higher fluorides of vanadium, niobium, and tantalum

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ic50042a036

A series of oxidation-reduction and halogen-exchange reactions has been used to compare the chemical reactivities of the pentafluorides of vanadium, niobium, and tantalum. Vanadium pentafluoride is extremely reactive and its reaction pattern with many reagents is extremely complex, depending largely on relative proportions of reagents and other experimental conditions. The pentafluorides of niobium and tantalum are very much less reactive than that of vanadium and are similar to each other. There is some evidence that of the two, the niobium compound is slightly more reactive. The reactivities of these three pentafluorides are discussed in terms of their physical properties and in relation to the higher fluorides of neighboring transition elements.