Text: As we all know, the "Noble gases" are, in general, chemically inert, and are therefore useful to chemists for providing inert atmospheres to prevent unwanted reactions of air-sensitive compounds. In 1962, N. Bartlett made the compound [O2+][PtF6-] and realized that Xe takes the same amount of energy to ionize to Xe+ as O2 does to be ionized to O2+. So he made a red solid which he believed as XePtF6. Since then most people have come to believe that he really made [XeF+][PtF6-], an ionic salt. Anyway, this seems to be the first time a compound was made which chemically incorporated a rare gas element. Since then, a number of other compounds have been made: XeF2, XeF4, XeF6, and a number of xenon flourocations (XenFm+ and anions (Xe_n F_m -). There are also xenon oxides (XeO3, HXeO4-, HXeO6-, H2XeO6^2-) and xenon oxofluorides (like XeO2F2). Finally, there are xenon compounds with bonds to other elements (like Xe[N(SO2CF3)2]2). One can obtain KrF2 by passing an electrical discharge through Kr and F2 at -183 Celsius, as well as XeF2. No other molecular fluoride (No other, that is) has been observed. There is limited evidence for the existence of KrFe(CO)5+ in exotic circumstances. No chemical compounds are known for Radon, which is hard to study because it has a short half-life. Finally, it was recently shown (last month!) experimentally that He@ exists as a bound molecule at VERY VERY low temperatures, with a bond length of around 15 Angstroms (typical bond lengths of hydrocarbons are close to 1 A). Source: Cotton and Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry.

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