Chemical Properties
dark grey-violet crystalline powder
Uses
A precursor to tungsten based carbenes.
Uses
Precursor to tungsten-based carbenes which catalyze the olefin metathesis reactions of 1- and 2-octene.
Description
Tungsten(VI) chloride, WCl6, is a dark violet blue species that exists as a volatile solid under standard conditions. It
is an important starting reagent in the preparation of tungsten compounds. As a d0 ion, W(VI) forms diamagnetic derivatives. WCl6 is octahedral with equivalent W-Cl distances of 2.24-2.26 ? .
Definition
ChEBI: Tungsten hexachloride is a tungsten coordination entity.
Preparation
WCl6 can be prepared by chlorinating
tungsten metal in a sealed tube at 600℃.
W +3Cl2→WCl6
Reactions
The tungsten reagents were prepared from tungsten hexachloride (Tungsten(VI) Chloride) in three ways: (i) with butyllithium; (ii) with a lithium dispersion; and (iii) with lithium iodide. In each case the ratio of WCl6 to lithium reagent is important.
Purification Methods
Sublime it in a stream of Cl2 in a high temperature furnace and collect it in a receiver cooled in a Dry Ice-acetone bath in an inert atmosphere because it is sensitive to moisture. It is soluble in CS2, CCl4, CHCl3, POCl3, *C6H6, pet ether and Me2CO. Its solutions decompose on standing. Good crystals can be obtained by heating WCl6 in CCl4 to 100o in a sealed tube, followed by slow cooling (tablets of four-sided prisms). Store it in a desiccator over H2SO4 in the dark. [Leitzke & Holt Inorg Synth III 163 1950, Parterfield & Tyree Inorg Synth IX 133 1967, Hein & Herzog in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (Ed. Brauer) Academic Press Vol II p 1420 1965.]
Flammability and Explosibility
Notclassified(100%)
reaction suitability
reagent type: catalyst
core: tungsten
