Sulfur hexafluoride Sulfur hexafluoride Sulfur hexafluoride (SF) is an inorganic, colorless, odorless, non-flammable, extremely potent greenhouse gas, and an excellent electrical insulator. has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached to a central sulfur atom. It is a hypervalent molecule. Typical for a nonpolar gas, it is poorly soluble in water but quite soluble in nonpolar organic solvents. It is generally transported as a liquefied compressed gas. It has a density of 6.12 g/L at sea level conditions, considerably higher than the density of air (1.225 g/L). can be prepared from the elements through exposure of to . This was
Nitrous oxide careful heating of ammonium nitrate at about 250 C, which decomposes into nitrous oxide and water vapour. The addition of various phosphate salts favours formation of a purer gas at slightly lower temperatures. This reaction may be difficult to control, resulting in detonation. The decomposition of ammonium nitrate is also a common laboratory method for preparing the gas. Equivalently, it can be obtained by heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and ammonium sulfate: Another method involves the reaction of urea, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid: Direct oxidation of ammonia with a manganese dioxide-bismuth oxide catalyst has been reported: cf. Ostwald