Boron trifluoride

Boron trifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula BF3. This pungent colourless toxic gas forms white fumes in moist air. It is a useful Lewis acid and a versatile building block for other boron compounds. Boron trifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula BF3. This pungent colourless toxic gas forms white fumes in moist air. It is a useful Lewis acid and a versatile building block for other boron compounds. The geometry of a molecule of BF3 is trigonal planar. Its D3h symmetry conforms with the prediction of VSEPR theory. The molecule has no dipole moment by virtue of its high symmetry. The molecule is isoelectronic with the carbonate anion, CO32−. BF3 is commonly referred to as 'electron deficient,' a description that is reinforced by its exothermic reactivity toward Lewis bases. In the boron trihalides, BX3, the length of the B-X bonds (1.30 Å) is shorter than would be expected for single bonds, and this shortness may indicate stronger B-X π-bonding in the fluoride. A facile explanation invokes the symmetry-allowed overlap of a p orbital on the boron atom with the in-phase combination of the three similarly oriented p orbitals on fluorine atoms. Others point to the ionic nature of the bonds in BF3. BF3 is manufactured by the reaction of boron oxides with hydrogen fluoride: Typically the HF is produced in situ from sulfuric acid and fluorite (CaF2). Approximately 2300-4500 tonnes of boron trifluoride are produced every year. For laboratory scale reactions, BF3 is usually produced in situ using boron trifluoride etherate, which is a commercially available liquid. Laboratory routes to the solvent-free materials are numerous. One well documented route involves the thermal decomposition of diazonium salts of BF4−: