Question
Question: \(B{{F}_{3}}\) on hydrolysis forms a) \({{H}_{3}}B{{O}_{3}}\) b) \(HB{{F}_{4}}\) c) both a) an...
BF3 on hydrolysis forms
a) H3BO3
b) HBF4
c) both a) and b)
d) None of these
Solution
Hydrolysis basically means treatment of chemical compounds with water. Since BF3is a Lewis acid , it reacts with water to give acid. This point leads to the correct answer.
Complete step by step solution:
BF3 is an inorganic compound and is toxic gas which forms white fumes in moist air. It has a pungent smell and is very useful Lewis acid and acts as a building block for other boron compounds.
-Since boron trifluoride is not available directly, it is synthesized in situ on reaction of boron oxides with hydrogen fluorides.
-Boron trifluoride is soluble in water and slowly hydrolyzed by cold water to give the desired products.
-boron trifluoride on the other hand is stable because of the fact that energy is being lost from the system .
-Therefore, the hydrolysis reaction of boron trifluoride gives boric acid and fluoro boric acid respectively.
The reaction is as shown below,
4BF3+3H2O→H3BO3+3HBF4
Therefore, the correct answer is option c).
Additional information:
-Interesting fact about boron trifluoride is that it does not form ionic bonds with fluorine. Thus it is because the total energy required for removing three electrons to form boron (+3) ion is very much higher to be recoverable. Thus, strong attractions are set up between the boron and trifluoride ion which makes it more stable.
Note: The acid hydrolysis process always yields two components in which one picks up a proton to yield another acid. This fact helps you to easily understand hydrolysis reactions for acid.