Xenon Difluoride and the Nature of the Xenon-Fluorine Bond

Xenon reacts with fluorine to form XeF 2 which can be isolated before it reacts with fluorine to form XeF 4 . The linear configuration of XeF 2 with the 2.00-A bond length and the vibrational force constants support the assignment of 10 electrons to the valence shell of xenon. Similar arguments support the assignment of 12 and 14 valence electrons respectively to xenon in XeF 4 and XeF 6 .