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Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Preparation and Reactivity of a Triphosphenium Bromide Salt: A Convenient and Stable Source of PhosphorusI
Published on: November 22, 2016
Pressure-stabilized hexafluorides of first-row transition metals
Jianyan Lin1,2, Qiuping Yang1,3, Xing Li1
1State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science & Technology and Key Laboratory for Microstructural Material Physics of Hebei Province, School of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China. yanggc468@nenu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Fluorine chemistry was demonstrated to show the importance of stretching the limits of chemical synthesis, oxidation state, and chemical bonding at ambient conditions. Thus far, the highest fluorine stoichiometry of a neutral first-row transition-metal fluoride is five, in VF5 and CrF5. Pressure can stabilize new stoichiometric compounds that are inaccessible at ambient conditions. Here, we attempted to delineate the fluorination limits of first-row transition metals at a high pressure through first-principles swarm-intelligence structure searching simulations. Besides reproducing the known compounds, our extensive search has resulted in a plethora of unreported compounds: CrF6, MnF6, FeF4, FeF5, FeF6, and CoF4, indicating that the application of pressure achieves not only the fluorination limit (e.g., hexafluoride) but also the long-sought bulky tetrafluorides. Our current results provide a significant step forward towards a comprehensive understanding of the fluorination limit of first-row transition metals.
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