Bartlett's main specialty was the chemistry of fluorine and of compounds containing fluorine.  In 1962, Bartlett prepared the first noble gas compound, xenon hexafluoroplatinate, Xe[PtF]. This contradicted established models of the nature of valency, as it was believed that all noble gases were entirely inert to chemical combination. His discovery incited other chemists to discover several other fluorides of xenon: XeF, XeF, and XeF.