Caesium fluoride can be prepared by the reaction of caesium hydroxide (CsOH) with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and the resulting salt can then be purified by recrystallization. The reaction is shown below:
CsOH + HF → CsF + H2O
Using the same reaction, another way to create caesium fluoride is to treat caesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) with hydrofluoric acid and again, the resulting salt can then be purified by recrystallization. The reaction is shown below:
Cs2CO3 + 2 HF → 2 CsF + H2O + CO2
CsF is more soluble than sodium fluoride or potassium fluoride in organic solvents. It is available in its anhydrous form, and if water has been absorbed, it is easy to dry by heating at 100 °C for two hours in vacuo.[7] CsF reaches a vapor pressure of 1 kilopascal at 825 °C, 10 kPa at 999 °C, and 100 kPa at 1249 °C.[8]
Structure
Caesium fluoride has the halite structure, which means that the Cs+ and F− pack in a cubic closest packed array as do Na+ and Cl− in sodium chloride.[3] Unlike sodium chloride, caesium fluoride's anion is smaller than its cation, so it is the anion size that sterically inhibits larger coordination numbers than six under normally encountered conditions. A larger halide ion would allow for the eight-coordination seen in other caesium halide crystals.
Applications in organic synthesis
Being highly dissociated, CsF is a more reactive source of fluoride than related alkali metal salts. CsF is an alternative to tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) and TAS-fluoride (TASF).
Due to the strength of the Si–F bond, fluoride is useful for desilylation reactions, i.e., cleavage of Si-O bonds in organic synthesis.[12] CsF is commonly used for such reactions. Solutions of caesium fluoride in THF or DMF attack a wide variety of organosilicon compounds to produce an organosilicon fluoride and a carbanion, which can then react with electrophiles, for example:[10]
Precautions
Like other soluble fluorides, CsF is moderately toxic.[13] Contact with acid should be avoided, as this forms highly toxic/corrosive hydrofluoric acid. The caesium ion (Cs+) and caesium chloride are generally not considered toxic.[14]
^Friestad, G. K.; Branchaud, B. P. (1999). Reich, H. J.; Rigby, J. H. (eds.). Handbook of Reagents for Organic Synthesis: Acidic and Basic Reagents. New York: Wiley. pp. 99–103. ISBN978-0-471-97925-8.
^Lide, D. R., ed. (2005). "Vapor Pressure"(PDF). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (86th ed.). Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press. p. 6.63. ISBN0-8493-0486-5.
^ abFiorenza, M; Mordini, A; Papaleo, S; Pastorelli, S; Ricci, A (1985). "Fluoride ion induced reactions of organosilanes: the preparation of mono and dicarbonyl compounds from β-ketosilanes". Tetrahedron Letters. 26 (6): 787–788. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(00)89137-6.
^Evans, F. W.; Litt, M. H.; Weidler-Kubanek, A. M.; Avonda, F. P. (1968). "Formation of adducts between fluorinated ketones and metal fluorides". Journal of Organic Chemistry. 33 (5): 1837–1839. doi:10.1021/jo01269a028.