Hey, guys! I think you all know that if you add a few drops of concentrated sulfuric acid to potassium permanganate
you’ll get extremely reactive manganese heptoxide, which is quite sensitive to heating and various types of exposure.
Look at this decomposition in slowmo
But if we replace sulfuric acid with fluorosulfuric acid,
the result of the reaction will be much more reactive permanganyl fluoride,
which I’m going to talk about in this short video.
By the way, let me know in the comments if you’ve heard about this reagent before.
Friedrich Wöhler was the first who observed a deep green color
which appeared upon treatment of purple potassium permanganate with strong acid containing fluoride.
The acid took on a green color, and a green vapor was evolved which exploded to give a deep-brown smoke
So let's add a few drops of fluorosulfuric acid to potassium permanganate
Here you can see a pretty significant amount of purple vapors of permanganic anhydride forming along with a green liquid
The thing is, permanganyl fluoride turns out to be an unstable reagent at a temperature higher than minus 10 degrees Celcius.
However, if I am to use fluorosulfonic acid that was significantly cooled down,
we’ll see a lesser amount of purple vapors of permanganic anhydride
and a bigger amount of a bright-green liquid, which is permanganyl fluoride.
Unlike manganese heptoxide that gives permanganic acid when hydrolyzed,
adding water to permanganyl fluoride makes it actively emit hydrogen fluoride and decompose on the temperature increase
Just like manganese heptoxide, permanganyl fluoride can set afire a number of organic matters, such as paper or ethanol.
And this is the reaction with sodium azide that combusts instantly on contact with permanganyl fluoride
Now let's compare the speed at which manganese heptoxide and permanganyl fluoride react with a foam sponge.
I synchronized the moment acid drops were falling on potassium permanganate.
And here I added samarium shavings to manganese heptoxide.
Compare that to when I add these shavings to permanganyl fluoride
Thanks for watching guys, I'm very glad I had a chance to introduce you to this strong oxidizer
that many of you probably haven't heard about before.
See ya in the next video