Preparation and crystal structure of osmium pentaluoride

Abstract

The preparation of osmium pentafluoride is described. Crystal of the solid are monoclinic, space group P2₁/c, a= 5·53, b= 9·91, c= 12·59 Å, β= 99·5°. The structure was refined by three-dimensional least-squares methods, the final R being 0·106 for 642 independent reflections. The compound is isostructural with ruthenium pentafluoride. The structural unit is a tetramer with osmium atoms at the corners of a rhombus, non-linearly linked by bridging fluorine atoms. The fluorine atoms have been shown to form an approximately hexagonal closepacked lattice.