CHAPTER V - NON-PROTONIC SOLVENTS

Abstract

This chapter discusses nonprotonic solvents. There are many solvents that contain no ionizable hydrogen and are called nonprotonic solvents. The examples of nonprotonic solvents are bromine trifluoride, sulfur dioxide, dinitrogen tetroxide, and phosphorus oxychloride. Liquid dinitrogen tetroxide has several possible dissociation mechanisms, one of which involves the neutral radical nitrogen dioxide, NO 2 . Because of its low dielectric constant, liquid dinitrogen tetroxide is a poor ionizing solvent; however, its chemistry can be extended by the addition of a suitable cosolvent. Bromine trifluoride is a highly reactive compound prepared directly from the elements and impurities such as bromine, hydrogen fluoride, bromine fluoride, and bromine pentafluoride, removed by a fractional distillation in a steel apparatus at atmospheric pressure. The chapter discusses the physical properties of bromine trifluoride. Liquid bromine trifluoride is used in the preparation of transition metal fluorides, many of which are difficult to obtain in a pure state by other methods.