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The symposium was held at the 19^th International Symposium on Fluorine Chemistry, Jackson Hole, WY on August 25, 2009. The multidisciplinary program honoring the life and scientific achievements of Prof. Neil Bartlett consisted of four keynote lectures (30 min.) and eight invited lectures (20 min.). The symposium created a forum where leading international experts from academia and industry reviewed the influence of Prof. Bartlett's work on developments in fundamental and applied areas of inorganic fluorine chemistry. The Symposium introduction to the first session was done by Prof. Alain Tressaud who spoke about the life and the scientific achievements of Prof. Neil Bartlett. The sessions were attended by 50 to 70 individuals.

Foreign Speakers Provided Travel Support, in Part, by PRF:

Prof. Dr. Hermann-Josef Frohn (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) -

Fluorophenyl Xe(II) and I(III) Chemistry

Description of the presentation: The substitution of fluorine with electrophilic assistance in the I^III-F moiety of ArIF₂ and Xe^II-F moiety in XeF₂ and ArXeF by carbon-nucleophiles was compared. Even strong adducts of ArIF₂ with chelating N-bases undergo fluorine substitution, e.g., cyanide. The molecule, C₆F₅I(CN)₂, splits off one cyanide ion when treated with BF₃ yielding [C₆F₅(NC)I][BF₃CN×BF₃]. The anions in aryliodonium and arylxenonium tetrafluoroborates react with Me₃SiCN and form the corresponding [NCBF₃]^– salts. The salt, [C₆F₅Xe][NCBF₃], is less stable than [(C₆F₅)₂I][NCBF₃] and decomposes to C₆F₅H and [C₆F₅Xe][BF₃CN×BF₃]. Finally, the preparation of the first zwitterion with a xenon-carbon bond was presented.         

Prof. Dr. Wojciech Grochala (University of Warsaw, Poland) -

Towards a Layered Antiferromagnetic Fluoroargentate (II) and the Dream of High T_c Superconductivity in Fluorides

Description of the presentation: The talk was centered on theory-driven attempts to design and synthesize the first high-Tc superconducting fluoride. The recent theoretical and experimental advances were discussed with particular emphasis on structural aspects, magnetism and properties of novel fluoroargentate phases.

Prof. Dr. Tsuyoshi Nakajima (Aichi Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan) - Effect of Surface Fluorination and Conductive Additives on the Electrochemical Behavior of Lithium Titanate (Li_4/3Ti_5/3O₄) in the Lithium Ion Battery

Description of the presentation: Lithium titanate is a new candidate for the anode material of lithium ion batteries. The effect of surface fluorination and two kinds of conductive additives (acetylene black and vapor-grown carbon fiber) on the charge/discharge characteristics of lithium titanate were studied and were reported. Surface fluorination by F₂ at 70-100° C and fibrous carbon fiber increased the utilization of available capacity.        

Dr. Melita Tramšek (Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia) -

XeF₂ as Ligand to Metal Ions; Review and Recent Achievements

Description of the presentation: In 1991, Neil Bartlett & co-workers, in the course of their systematic attempts to oxidize Xe with Ag(II), prepared Ag(XeF₂)₂(AsF₆), the first compound in which XeF₂ acted as a ligand towards a metal center. Nearly a decade later, the fluorine group at Jožef Stefan Institute started systematic investigations of XeF₂ reactions with various metal salts. Thus far, numerous cations with metals in oxidation states I, II, III and various MF₆^- and the BF₄^- anions have been synthesized and characterized. The metals cation centers in these compounds usually exhibit the highest known coordination numbers that are known for fluorine ligands. The coordination sphere of the metal cation usually consists of fluorine atoms from the XeF₂ ligands and from the anions. Several cases have been found in which the metals are only homoleptically coordinated to XeF₂ molecules. The structural diversity among these compounds is one of the most interesting general features of this area of research.         

Other Invited Speakers Supported from Other Sources

(A) Keynote Speakers

(1)   Prof. Dr. Jack Passmore, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada -

Understanding Some Electrophilic Group 16 and 17 Main-Group Cations with Geometries that Do Not Obey VSEPR Theory Rules

(2)   Prof. Dr. Konrad Seppelt, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany -

Oxidation of Benzenes and Di-Chalcogenides by High Potent Oxidisers

(3)   Prof. Dr. Gary J. Schrobilgen, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada -

Recent Synthetic and Structural Developments in Krypton and Xenon Chemistry; from Linear NgF₂ (Ng = Kr, Xe) to Non-Octahedral XeF₆

(4)   Prof. Dr. Boris Žemva, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia -

Syntheses and Crystal Structures of XeF₂.MF₄ and XeF₂.2MF₄. What Do we Know about the Crystal Structure of the First Noble-Gas Compound XePtF₆?

(B) Invited Speakers

(1)   Dr. Sonali Garg, University of Idaho, Moscow, U.S.A. -

Azoles as Reactive Nucleophiles with Cyclic Perfluoroalkanes

(2)   Prof. Dr. Rika Hagiwara, University of Kyoto, Japan -

Elimination of Arsenic from Hydrogen Fluoride Prepared from Low Quality, Fluorite

(3)   Prof. Dr. Ruediger J. Mews, University of Bremen, Germany -

Neil Bartlett's Influence on Sulphur – Nitrogen – Fluorine Chemistry

(4)   Dr. Sebastian Riedel, Albert-Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg, Germany -

How Far Can we Go? New Insights into the Highest Oxidation States of             Transition Metals

(5) Prof. Dr. Alain Tressaud, Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux, France -

A Retrospective on the Life and Scientific Achievements of Professor Neil Bartlett

(C) Organizing Committee

Prof. Gary J. Schrobilgen & Dr. Hélène P.A. Mercier
Department of Chemistry
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1
Canada
Tel. +905 525-9140 ext. 23306/23305
schrobil@mcmaster.ca
mercierhpa@live.com

Prof. Alain Tressaud
ICMCB-CNRS
Ave. Dr. A. Schweitzer
33608  Pessac Cedex,
France
tressaud@icmcb.u-bordeaux.fr

Prof. Boris Žemva
Dept. of inorganic Chemistry
And Technology
Jožef Stefan Institute,
Jamova 39
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel. 386-1-477-3540
boris.zemva@ijs.si