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Chlorine TrifluorideChlorine trifluoride, ClF3, is a colourless, very poisonous gas that condenses to a pale-yellow liquid (mp -114.6, bp -39.4C). This was first made in 1912 by the electrolysis of molten NaCl/HF, but is now generally made by reacting F2 gas with 3% aqueous NaOCl solution: 4F2 + 2NaOCl → 2ClF3 + 2NaF + O2 When pure it is stable to 180 in glass vessels but above this temperature it decomposes by a radical mechanism to the elements.
The heat of formation has been given as ΔHf 23.7 kJ/mol, leading to an average Cl-F bond energy of 112.1 kJ/mol. ClF3 is a bland oxiding, several metals give chlorides and fluorides, phosphorus yields PCl3 plus PF5, sulfur SCl2 plus SF4. H2S explodes on being mixed with ClF3 at room temperature.
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