WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements | Lithium

Lithium compounds: lithium fluoride

The lithium in lithium fluoride formally is in the oxidation state 1.

Lithium fluoride

Formula as often written: LiF
Hill system formula: F₁Li₁
CAS registry number: [7789-24-4]
Formula weight: 25.939
Class: fluoride

Synonyms

lithium fluoride
lithium(I) fluoride

Physical properties

Colour: white
Appearance: crystalline solid
Melting point: 848°C
Boiling point: 1676°C; 1676°C
Density: 2640 kg m^-3

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Element analysis

Element percentages for the elements in lithium fluoride
Element	%
F	73.24
Li	26.76

Synthesis

One way to make lithium fluoride is to react the hydroxide with hydrofluoric acid. The resulting salt can then be purified by recrystallization. It can also be made by fluorination of LiCl using BrF₃ at 120°C.

LiOH(aq) + HF(aq) → LiF(aq) + H₂O(l)

While not a normal route of preparation because of the expense, lithium metal reacts vigorously with all the halogens to form lithium halides. So, it burns with fluorine, F₂, to form lithium(I) fluoride, LiF.

2Li(s) + F₂(g) → 2LiF(s)

Solid state structure

Geometry of lithium: 6 coordinate: octahedral
Prototypical structure: NaCl (rock salt)

Crystal structure of lithium fluoride

Isotope pattern

What follows is the calculated isotope pattern for the LiF unit with the most intense ion set to 100%.

Formula: Li₁F₁

mass  %
25   8.1 ____
26 100.0 __________________________________________________

References

The data on these compounds pages are assembled and adapted from the primary literature and several other sources including the following.

R.T. Sanderson in Chemical Periodicity, Reinhold, New York, USA, 1960.
N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.
F.A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C.A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann, in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, (ed.) in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1973.
R.W.G. Wyckoff, in Crystal Structures, volume 1, Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 1963.
A.R.West in Basic solid state chemistry Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
A.F. Wells in Structural inorganic chemistry, 4th edition, Oxford, UK, 1975.
J.D.H. Donnay, (ed.) in Crystal data determinative tables, ACA monograph number 5, American Crystallographic Association, USA, 1963.
D.R. Lide, (ed.) in Chemical Rubber Company handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 77th edition, 1996.
J.W. Mellor in A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry, volumes 1-16, Longmans, London, UK, 1922-1937.
J.E. Macintyre (ed.) in Dictionary of inorganic compounds, volumes 1-3, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1992.