Perrhenic acid is the chemical compound with the formula Re2O7(H2O)2. It is obtained by evaporating aqueous solutions of Re2O7. Conventionally, perrhenic acid is considered to have the formula HReO4, and a species of this formula forms when rhenium(VII) oxide sublimes in the presence of water or steam.[2] When a solution of Re2O7 is kept for a period of months, it breaks down and crystals of HReO4·H2O are formed, which contain tetrahedral ReO−4.[3] For most purposes, perrhenic acid and rhenium(VII) oxide are used interchangeably. Rhenium can be dissolved in nitric or concentrated sulfuric acid to produce perrhenic acid.
Properties
The structure of solid perrhenic acid is [O3Re−O−ReO3(H2O)2].[4] This species is a rare example of a metal oxide coordinated to water; most often metal–oxo–aquo species are unstable with respect to their corresponding hydroxides:
M(O)(H2O) → M(OH)2
The two rhenium atoms have different bonding geometries, with one being tetrahedral and the other octahedral, and with the water ligands coordinated to the latter.
Gaseous perrhenic acid is tetrahedral, as suggested by its formula HReO4.
^Beyer, H.; Glemser, O.; Krebs, B. "Dirhenium Dihydratoheptoxide Re 2O 7(OH 2) 2 – New Type of Water Bonding in an Aquoxide" Angewandte Chemie, International Edition English 1968, Volume 7, Pages 295 - 296. doi:10.1002/anie.196802951.
^Schwarz, D. E.; Frenkel, A. I.; Nuzzo, R. G.; Rauchfuss, T. B.; Vairavamurthy, A. (2004). "Electrosynthesis of ReS 4. XAS Analysis of ReS 2, Re 2S 7, and ReS 4". Chemistry of Materials. 16: 151–158. doi:10.1021/cm034467v.
^Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. "Inorganic Chemistry" Academic Press: San Diego, 2001. ISBN0-12-352651-5.
^van Vliet, M. C. A.; Arends, I. W. C. E.; Sheldon, R. A. (1999). "Rhenium Catalysed Epoxidations with Hydrogen Peroxide: Tertiary Arsines as Effective Cocatalysts". J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 (3): 377–80. doi:10.1039/a907975k.