Why fluorine is the most reactive halogen

Bromine has 4 shells, whereas iodine has 5. Positively charged protons are found in the nucleus of the atom. For bromine or iodine to react, each atom needs to gain an electron to fill up its shell so that it is in a more stable state. This makes it much easier for bromine to gain an electron to the outer shell. Rather, fluorine is the most reactive halogen.

It reacts violently with almost all chemicals. Xenon forms bond with Fluorine atom. Yes, you heard it right Xenon reacts with Fluorine. The process of bond formation is very complicated. Only fluorine has the ability to react with Xenon. It depends upon electronegativity for nonmetals while for metals it depends on electropositivity. Electronegativity is the ability of an element to attract the shared pair of electron towards itself.

Reactivity is directly proportional to the electronegativity of nonmetals. In periodic table electronegativity and reactivity both increase left to right in a period and decrease from top to bottom in group. Fluorine is the most reactive nonmetal because it is the most electronegative nonmetal in the periodic table. Fluorine is a chemical substance that is indicated by a sign F.

Its atomic number is 9. It is the most lightweight element of non-metals. Fluorine is the 13thmost conventional element on earth. It is the element of the halogen group which is the 17th group in the periodic table. Under quality circumstances, this element is yellow in color and a diatomic gas. Fluorine has specific fragrances other than chlorine, bromine, and iodine. Because of its high electronegativity, , it can be bonded with any other element.

These specific properties not only make fluorine exceptional but the molecules which contain fluorine, their reactivity , and properties also changed. The fluorapatite serves as a hard element in the teeth of humans.

The principle fluorine is prepared by the method of electrolysis i. HF is broken into its components which are hydrogen and fluorine. This experiment was given by Henri Mossian in and he had also been awarded a Nobel prize because of this discovery. In , the yearly production of fluorine was approximately 20,t.

The important petition of fluorine is just to produce UF6 Uranium Hexafluoride which is used for the production of U as nuclear fuel. One more large amount production of fluorine is Sulphur hexafluoride SF6. Globally the desire for this is approximately 10, per year. It is mainly used as a protector gas that protects them from large voltage circuit breakers as they have a large amount of dielectric strength.

A specific property of hydrogen fluoride is its reactivity towards the glass, as glass is only reactive towards hydrogen fluoride and not to any other element. This characteristic also makes HF an impression agent for glass. A specific thing that made fluorine most reactive is its tendency to attract shared pair of electrons i. The reactivity of fluorine is also due to its smaller size as fluorine is smaller than chlorine, bromine, iodine.

It is most of the reactive non-metal of halogen, as they never come in sight in its free form; it reacts with all other elements except argon, Helium, and neon.

But they make a firm compound with krypton, xenon, and argon, etc. When we are discussing reactivity these three things must be overlooked. The reactivity depends upon the ability to gain no. In chlorine, there is more electron that repels the upcoming electrons making fluorine more accessible for electrons that makes it reactive. In fluorine, there are fewer shells of an electron than chlorine, bromine, and iodine. For instance, the most widely used drug in the therapy of breast cancer ICI ,, Figure 2 contains a partially fluorinated alkyl tail.

In fact, it is more potent than the non-fluorinated derivative. It is surprising that the introduction of fluorine atoms in pharmaceutically active compounds is beneficial because the vast majority of drugs are derivatives of natural products or are inspired by nature. It was not until that the first fluorine-containing natural product was discovered, i. Thus, fluorinated products make an important contribution to global food security.

Among the halogens, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, fluorine is the most reactive one. It forms compounds with all other elements except the noble gases helium He , neon Ne and argon Ar , whereas stable compounds with krypton Kr and xenon Xe are formed. The synthesis of these noble gas compounds by Neil Bartlett, and shortly thereafter by Rudolf Hoppe, marked a paradigm shift in the reactivity of noble gases, which were once believed to be fully inert. In general, extreme caution should be exercised when working with elemental fluorine and some of the fluorinated inorganic compounds.

Nevertheless, this should not stop chemists from exploring the chemistry of this remarkable element with its unique reactivity and the potential to discover exciting and novel fluorine-containing materials. Fluorine is therefore an element of extremes which can still bring us many surprises in the future. Schrobilgen University of Hamilton, Canada. Since he is a PhD student in the group of Prof.

This reactivity is due to high electronegativity and high effective nuclear charge. Halogens can gain an electron by reacting with atoms of other elements. Fluorine is one of the most reactive elements.

It reacts with otherwise inert materials such as glass, and it forms compounds with the heavier noble gases. It is a corrosive and highly toxic gas. Fluorine can react with glass in the presence of small amounts of water to form silicon tetrafluoride SiF4. Thus fluorine must be handled with substances like the inert organofluorine compound Teflon. Chlorine has maximum solubility of 7.

Dissolved chlorine reacts to form hydrochloric acid HCl and hypochlorous acid HClO , a solution that can be used as a disinfectant or bleach:.

Bromine has a solubility of 3. Iodine is minimally soluble in water, with a solubility of 0. However, iodine will form an aqueous solution in the presence of iodide ion. This occurs with the addition of potassium iodide KI , forming a triiodide ion. Halogens are highly reactive and can form hydrogen halides, metal halides, organic halides, interhalogens, and polyhalogenated compounds.

The halogens all form binary compounds with hydrogen, and these compounds are known as the hydrogen halides: hydrogen fluoride HF , hydrogen chloride HCl , hydrogen bromide HBr , hydrogen iodide HI , and hydrogen astatide HAt.

All of these except HF are strong chemical acids when dissolved in water. However, hydrofluoric acid does have quite destructive properties towards animal tissue, including that of humans.

When in aqueous solution, the hydrogen halides are known as hydrohalic acids. The names of these acids are as follows:. All of these acids are dangerous and must be handled with great care. Some of these acids are also widely used in chemical manufacturing plants. Hydrogen astatide should also be a strong acid hydroastatic acid , but it is seldom included in presentations about hydrohalic acids because of the extreme radioactivity of astatine via alpha decay and the fact that it readily decomposes into its constituent elements hydrogen and astatine.

The halogens form many compounds with metals. These include highly ionic compounds such as sodium chloride, monomeric covalent compounds such as uranium hexafluoride, and polymeric covalent compounds such as palladium chloride. Metal halides are generally obtained through direct combination or, more commonly, through neutralization of a basic metal salt with a hydrohalic acid.

Silver Chloride : Silver chloride is the precipitate formed when silver nitrate solution is added to chloride solution. The halogens react with each other to form interhalogen compounds. The properties and behavior of a diatomic interhalogen compound tend to be intermediates of those of its parent halogens. Some properties, however, are found in neither parent halogen. Many synthetic organic compounds, such as plastic polymers, as well as a few natural organic compounds, contain halogen atoms; these are known as halogenated compounds, or organic halides.

Chlorine is by far the most abundant of the halogens and is the only one needed as chloride ions in relatively large amounts by humans. For example, chloride ions play a key role in brain function by mediating the action of the inhibitory transmitter GABA.