Chemical properties of radon

Radon is frequently regarded as a totally inert element. It is, however, a ''metalloid'' - an element which lies on the diagonal of the Periodic Table between the true metals and nonmetals and which exhibits some of the characteristics of both. It reacts with fluorine, halogen fluorides, dioxygenyl salts, fluoro-nitrogen salts, and halogen fluoride-metal fluoride complexes to form ionic compounds. Several of the solid reagents can be used to collect radon from air but must be protected from moisture, since they hydrolyze readily. Recently, solutions of nonvolatile, cationic radon have been produced in nonaqueous solvents. Ion-exchange studies have shown that the radon can be quantitatively collected on columns packed with either Nafion resins or complex salts. In its ionic state, radon is able to displace H/sup +/, Na/sup +/, K/sup +/, Cs/sup +/, Ca/sup 2 +/, and Ba/sup 2 +/ ions from a number of solid materials. 27 refs., 6 figs.