An attempt to reconcile conflicting measurements of the bond strengths in the xenon fluorides

Abstract

The heats of formation of gaseous XeF 2, XeF 4 and XeF 6 were recently determined by means of bomb calorimetry and by photoionization mass spectrometry. Despite the high quality of these investigations, serious discrepancies arise upon their comparison. The calorimetric values are always higher than the corresponding photoionization numbers and the differences are always outside the quoted experimental errors. No literature explanation exists for this discrepancy. Four explanations are offered and discussed: two by H. H. Hyman and two by the author.