ClF

Chlorine monofluoride · Chlorine fluoride

Chlorine monofluoride is a reactive, metastable interhalogen compound used extensively as a powerful fluorinating and oxidizing agent in chemical synthesis.

ClF
Crystal structure of ClF (monoclinic, P21/c (No. 14))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Chlorine monofluoride

Chlorine monofluoride is a reactive interhalogen compound formed by the combination of chlorine and fluorine. As a metastable species, it exhibits significant chemical reactivity that makes it a potent agent in various synthetic and industrial chemical processes.

Characterized by its semiconducting electronic nature, this compound plays a specialized role in high-energy chemistry. Its ability to act as a strong fluorinating agent is highly valued in laboratory settings where precise control over halogenation reactions is required.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Chlorine monofluoride, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

2.09 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.071 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Metastable
2 DFT sources

Structures

139
3 databases, 21 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for ClF, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
P21/c (No. 14)monoclinic2.090.0712-4.9802.43
Cmc21 (No. 36)Orthorhombic4.80
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic2.38
C2 (No. 5)Monoclinic2.90
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic3.15
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic2.34
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic2.55
P2/m (No. 10)Monoclinic4.59
P2/m (No. 10)Monoclinic2.85
P2/m (No. 10)Monoclinic3.14
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic4.47
C2 (No. 5)Monoclinic4.64
Uses

Applications

Where Chlorine monofluoride is used.

Fluorinating agentOxidizing agentChemical synthesisRocket propellant research
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Chlorine monofluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is ClF?

Chlorine monofluoride is a reactive, metastable interhalogen compound used extensively as a powerful fluorinating and oxidizing agent in chemical synthesis.

More questions
What is ClF used for?
Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) is used in fluorinating agent, oxidizing agent, chemical synthesis, and rocket propellant research.
What is the band gap of ClF?
Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) has a DFT-computed band gap of 2.09 eV across 139 reported structures.
Is ClF a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 2.09 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is ClF thermodynamically stable?
Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) has a lowest energy above hull of 0.071 eV/atom (metastable).
What is the crystal structure of ClF?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) is monoclinic symmetry, space group P21/c (No. 14).
What is the density of ClF?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) is 2.43 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of ClF are known?
139 structures of ClF are reported across 3 databases, spanning 21 distinct space groups.
What elements does ClF contain?
Chlorine monofluoride (ClF) contains Cl and F (2 elements).
Where does the data for ClF come from?
ClF data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a primary interhalogen compound, chlorine monofluoride serves as a fundamental building block in halogen chemistry. It occupies a unique position due to its specific reactivity profile, which distinguishes it from more stable or complex halogen-based molecules, functioning as a critical reagent for specialized chemical synthesis.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).

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