Question

Oxygen reacts with fluorine to form only $O{{F}_{2}}$ , but sulphur which is in the same group 16 as oxygen, reacts with fluorine to form $\text{S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{2}}}\text{, S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{4}}}$ and $\text{S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}$ . Explain?

Answer 1

Oxygen is a chemical element with the atomic number 8 and the symbol O. It is a highly reactive nonmetal and an oxidising agent that quickly produces oxides with most elements and other compounds. It belongs to the chalcogen group in the periodic table. By mass, oxygen is the third most plentiful element in the universe, behind hydrogen and helium.

Complete answer:
The chemical compound $O{{F}_{2}}$ stands for oxygen difluoride. The molecule assumes a "bent" molecular geometry similar to that of water, as predicted by VSEPR theory. However, as a powerful oxidant, it has quite different characteristics.
In terms of accessible orbitals for bonding, there is a significant difference between oxygen and sulphur.
Indeed, oxygen can only produce oxygen difluoride ( $O{{F}_{2}}$ ) when it comes into contact with fluorine.
Sulfur difluoride ( $\text{S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{2}}}$ ), sulphur tetrafluoride ( $\text{ S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{4}}}$ ), and sulphur hexafluoride ( $\text{S}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}$ ), on the other hand, are all easily formed.
Sulfur is in the same group as oxygen, however it is one period lower, indicating that it is a bigger atom. This is due to the fact that the outermost electrons of sulphur are farther distant from the nucleus.
The energy of electrons positioned further away from the nucleus are higher than those located closer to the nucleus.
The valence electrons of oxygen are found in the 2p-subshell, one complete energy level lower than the valence electrons of sulphur, which are found in the 3p-subshell.
This is noteworthy because the energy of the 3p-subshell is near to that of the 3d-subshell, implying that, given the appropriate circumstances, the energy cost of promoting an electron from the 3p-subshell, or even the 3s-subshell, to the 3d-subshell is negligible.
This indicates that sulphur has access to its empty 3d-orbitals, which is not the case for oxygen, where the energy difference between the 2s or 2p-subshell and the 3d-subshell is extremely large.
As a result, sulphur can extend its octet and accommodate more than 8 valence electrons in its outermost shell ( $s{{p}^{3}}d$ and $s{{p}^{3}}{{d}^{2}}$ hybridization), but oxygen simply cannot (it cannot have more than $s{{p}^{3}}$ hybridization).

Note:
The high propensity of fluorine to acquire one electron dominates its chemistry. Fluorine is the most electronegative element, and it is a powerful oxidant. The energy required to remove an electron from a fluorine atom is so great that no known reagents can oxidise fluorine to any positive oxidation state. As a result, the only frequent oxidation state for fluorine is - 1.