Oxygen fluoride
Oxygen fluorides are compounds of elements oxygen and fluorine with the general formula , where "n" = 1 to 6. Many different oxygen fluorides are known: Oxygen fluorides are strong oxidizing agents with high energy and can release their energy either instantaneously or at a controlled rate. Thus, these compounds attracted much attention as potential fuels in jet propulsion systems. Synthesis. Here are some synthesis methods and reactions of the three most common oxygen fluorides – oxygen difluoride (), dioxygen difluoride () and ozone difluoride (). Oxygen difluoride (). A common preparative method involves fluorination of sodium hydroxide: It can also displace halogens from  their salts. It is both an effective fluorinating agent and a strong oxidizing agent. When reacted with unsaturated nitrogen fluorides with electrical discharge, it results in the formation of nitrogen trifluoride, oxide fluorides and other oxides. Dioxygen difluoride (). precipitates as a brown solid upon the UV irradiation of a mixture of liquid and at −196 °C. It also only appears to be stable below −160 °C. The general method of preparation of many oxygen fluorides is a gas-phase electric discharge in cold containers including . It is typically an orange-yellow solid which rapidly decomposes to and close  to its normal boiling point of about 216 K. Trioxygen difluoride or ozone difluoride (). is a viscous, blood-red liquid. It remains liquid at 90 K and so can be differentiated from which has a melting point of about 109 K. Like the other oxygen fluorides, is endothermic and decomposes at about 115 K with the evolution of heat, which is given by the following reaction: Fluoroperoxyl. Fluoroperoxyl is a molecule such as O–O–F, whose chemical formula is and is stable only at low temperature. It has been reported to be produced from atomic fluorine and dioxygen. Effects  on ozone. Oxygen- and fluorine-containing radicals like and OF occur in the atmosphere. These along with other halogen radicals have been implicated in the destruction of ozone in the atmosphere. However, the fluorine oxide radicals are assumed to not play as big a role in the ozone depletion because free fluorine atoms in the atmosphere are believed to react with methane to produce hydrofluoric acid which precipitates in rain. This decreases the availability of free fluorine atoms for oxygen atoms to react with and destroy ozone molecules. Net reaction: Hypergolic propellant. Despite the low solubility of in liquid oxygen , it has been shown to be hypergolic with most rocket propellant fuels. The mechanism involves the boiling off oxygen from the solution containing , making it more reactive to have a spontaneous reaction with the rocket fuel. The degree of reactivity is also dependent on the type of fuel used.