Tungsten dichloride dioxide, or Tungstyl chloride is the chemical compound with the formula WO2Cl2. It is a yellow-colored solid. It is used as a precursor to other tungsten compounds. Like other tungsten halides, WO2Cl2 is sensitive to moisture, undergoing hydrolysis.
Using a two-zone tube furnace, a vacuum-sealed tube containing these solids is heated to 350 °C. The yellow product sublimes to the cooler end of the reaction tube. No redox occurs in this process.[2] An alternative route highlights the oxophilicity of tungsten:[3]
WCl6 + 2 ((CH3)3Si)2O → 3 WO2Cl2 + 4 (CH3)3SiCl
This reaction, like the preceding one, proceeds via the intermediacy of WOCl4.
Structure
Gaseous tungsten dichloride dioxide is a monomer.[4] Solid tungsten dichloride dioxide is a polymer consisting of distorted octahedral W centres. The polymer is characterized by two short W-O distances, typical for a multiple W-O bond, and two long W-O distances more typical of a single or dative W-O bond.[5]
Related oxy halides
Tungsten forms a number of oxyhalides including WOCl4, WOCl3, WOCl2. The corresponding bromides (WOBr4, WOBr3, WOBr2) are also known as is WO2I2.[6]
Reactions
WO2Cl2 is a Lewis acid, forming soluble adducts of the type WO2Cl2L2, where L is a donor ligand such as bipyridine and dimethoxyethane. Such complexes often cannot be prepared by depolymerization of the inorganic solid, but are generated in situ from WOCl4.[7]
^Gibson, V. C.; Kee, T. P.; Shaw, A. (1988). "New, improved synthesis of the group 6 oxyhalides, W(O)Cl4, W(O)2Cl2 and Mo(O)2Cl2". Polyhedron. 7 (7): 579–80. doi:10.1016/S0277-5387(00)86336-6.
^Ward, Brian G.; Stafford, Fred E. (1968). "Synthesis and Structure of Four- and Five-Coordinated Gaseous Oxohalides of Molybdenum(VI) and Tungsten(VI)". Inorganic Chemistry. 7 (12): 2569–2573. doi:10.1021/ic50070a020.
^Jarchow, O.; Schröder, F.; Schulz, H. "Kristallstruktur und Polytypie von WO2Cl2" Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie 1968, vol. 363, p. 345ff. doi:10.1002/zaac.19683630108
^Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. Inorganic Chemistry Academic Press: San Diego, 2001. ISBN0-12-352651-5.
^K. Dreisch, C. Andersson, C. Stalhandske "Synthesis and structure of dimethoxyethane-dichlorodioxo-tungsten(VI)—a highly soluble derivative of tungsten dioxodichloride" Polyhedron 1991, volume 10, p. 2417. doi:10.1016/S0277-5387(00)86203-8