Niobium oxychloride

Niobium oxychloride
IUPAC name Niobium (V) Oxychloride
Identifiers
CAS number	13597-20-1
Properties
Molecular formula	Cl3NbO
Molar mass	215.26 g mol−1
Appearance	white crystals
Melting point	sublimes above 200 °C
Y oxychloride (verify) (what is: Y/N?) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Niobium oxychloride is the inorganic compound with the formula NbOCl₃. It is a white, crystalline, diamagnetic solid. It is often found as an impurity in samples of niobium pentachloride, a common reagent in niobium chemistry.

Structure and synthesis

Niobium oxychloride adopts a distorted octahedral structure. The Nb-O bonds and Nb-Cl bonds are unequal. This structure can be described as planar Nb₂Cl₆ core connected by O-Nb-O bridges. In this way, the structure consists of a double stranded chain.^[1][2]

Niobium oxychloride is prepared by the reaction of niobium pentoxide with carbon tetrachloride:^[3]

Nb₂O₅ + 1.5 CCl₄ → 2 NbOCl₃ + 1.5 CO₂

References

1. ^ . doi:10.1002/1521-3749(200202)628:2. 
2. ^ Beck, Johannes; Bordinhão, Jairo (2005). "Polar [NbOCl3]2n and [NbOX4?]n (X = Cl, Br) Chains in the Structures of NbOCl3 and the Thallium-Halogenooxoniobates Tl[NbOCl4] and Tl[NbOBr4] - Synthesis, Crystal Structures and Optical Second Harmonic Generation". Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie 631 (6–7): 1261–1266. doi:10.1002/zaac.200500041. 
3. ^ Jena, P. K.; Brocchi, E. A.; Garcia, R. I. (1997). "Kinetics of chlorination of niobium pentoxide by carbon tetrachloride". Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B 28: 39–45. doi:10.1007/s11663-997-0125-0.