Strontium fluoride, SrF2, also called strontium difluoride and strontium(II) fluoride, is a fluoride of strontium. It is a brittle white crystalline solid. In nature, it appears as the very rare mineral strontiofluorite.[2][3]
The solid adopts the fluorite structure. In the vapour phase the SrF2 molecule is non-linear with an F−Sr−F angle of approximately 120°.[5] This is an exception to VSEPR theory which would predict a linear structure. Ab initio calculations have been cited to propose that contributions from d orbitals in the shell below the valence shell are responsible.[6] Another proposal is that polarization of the electron core of the strontium atom creates an approximately tetrahedral distribution of charge that interacts with the Sr−F bonds.[7]
Properties
It is almost insoluble in water (its Ksp value is approximately 2.0x10−10 at 25 degrees Celsius).
It irritates eyes and skin, and is harmful when inhaled or ingested.
Similar to CaF2 and BaF2, SrF2 displays superionic conductivity at elevated temperatures.[8]
^Ab initio model potential study of the equilibrium geometry of alkaline earth dihalides: MX2 (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba; X=F, Cl, Br, I)Seijo L.,Barandiarán Z J. Chem. Phys. 94, 3762 (1991) doi:10.1063/1.459748
^Core Distortions and Geometries of the Difluorides and Dihydrides of Ca, Sr, and Ba Bytheway I, Gillespie RJ, Tang TH, Bader RF Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.34, No.9, 2407-2414, 1995 doi:10.1021/ic00113a023