Question

$\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ }$ on hydrolysis gives:
A) $\text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}}\text{ }$
B) $\text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{2}}\text{ }$
C) $\text{ XeO }$
D) $\text{ Xe }$

Answer 1

Hint: The xenon hexafluoride is a xenon compound. The $\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ }$ undergoes the partial or complete hydrolysis reaction. Xenon hexafluoride on hydrolysis gives oxide as a product along with the hydrofluoric acid. The hydrolysis product is a strong oxidizing agent.

Complete Solution :
Xenon is a noble gas element. It is a fifth-period element. The electronic configuration of xenon is as shown below:
$\text{ Xe = }\left[ \text{Kr} \right]4{{\text{d}}^{\text{10}}}\text{ 5}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}\text{ 5}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}\text{ }$
- The valence shell of xenon contains 8 electrons. It also has an empty $\text{ 5d }$ orbital. The six fluorine atoms are bonded to the xenon atom through six covalent bonds and form a xenon hexafluoride compound. Xenon undergoes $\text{ s}{{\text{p}}^{\text{3}}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{3}}}\text{ }$ hybridization and has seven hybrid orbitals. Six hybrid orbitals form a covalent bond with six fluorine atoms and contain one lone pair of electrons.
The structure of xenon hexafluoride is as shown below:

$\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ }$ is one of the three binary fluorides formed by xenon.
The xenon hexafluoride undergoes a complete hydrolysis reaction. The hydrolysis of $\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ }$ forms a xenon trioxide $\text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}}\text{ }$ and hydrofluoric acid $\text{ HF }$ .The reaction between the xenon hexafluoride and water is as shown below:
$\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6 }}}+\text{ 3}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O }\to \text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3 }}}+\text{ 6HF }$
The xenon trioxide is highly explosive in nature. It acts as a strong oxidizing agent in the solution.
So, the correct answer is “Option A”.

Note: Note that, the partial hydrolysis of $\text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ }$ gives oxyfluorides such as $\text{ XeO}{{\text{F}}_{\text{4}}}\text{ }$ and $\text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{F}}_{2}}\text{ }$. The reaction of partial hydrolysis of xenon hexafluoride is as follows:
$\text{ }\left. \begin{align}
  & \text{Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ + }{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O }\to \text{ XeO}{{\text{F}}_{\text{4}}}\text{ }+\text{ 2HF } \\
 & \text{ Xe}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}\text{ + 2}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O }\to \text{ Xe}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{F}}_{2}}\text{ }+\text{ 4HF} \\
\end{align} \right\}\text{ Partial hydrolysis }$