# Gaseous compounds of metals

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 22, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686 "2008-09-22T15:37:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/1 "2008-09-22T15:37:30Z")

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I know Stannane (SnH4) is a gas at STP. Are there gaseous compounds containing iron, magnesium, silicon, or other metals that are gaseous at room temperature, or close to it?

Or perhaps more importantly, what’s a good reference to use if I wanted to get a list of such compounds?

OK, I suppose Si is not a metal…

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**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/2 "2008-09-22T16:07:25Z")

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[nickel carbonyl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_carbonyl)

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/3 "2008-09-22T16:31:06Z")

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Uranium hexafluoride (UF[sub]6[/sub]) is a liquid which boils at a very low temperature – it’s historically famous as being the compound used in the gaseous diffusion method of concentrating U-235 out of native (99%+ U-238) uranium.

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**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/4 "2008-09-22T17:14:47Z")

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[Tungsten(VI)\_fluoride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten(VI)_fluoride), the densest known gas.

And if you’re not too picky, [germane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germane), [hydrogen telluride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_telluride), [selenium hexafluoride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium_hexafluoride), from a quick browse through the CRC Handbook

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/5 "2008-09-22T17:20:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Or perhaps more importantly, what’s a good reference to use if I wanted to get a list of such compounds?

THE standard reference for science geeks is the **CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics** , now in its umpteenth edition. There’s a section on Inorganic Compounds which lists a huge number of such, and gives their melting points, boiling points, crystal structure, etc. With that you can easily ferret out the metal-containing compounds at room temperature.

Any decent chemical catalog – Alfa or Sigma or whatever will do the same for the ones they carry.

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**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/6 "2008-09-22T17:55:51Z")

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> [@Wiltshire](#):
>
> And if you’re not too picky, [germane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germane),

And is that relevant to this discussion? :dubious:

😃

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaseous-compounds-of-metals/464686/7 "2008-09-22T22:25:13Z")

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> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> THE standard reference for science geeks is the **CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics** , now in its umpteenth edition. There’s a section on Inorganic Compounds which lists a huge number of such…

Thanks, I finally found my copy of CRC and got the answer.

Unfortunately it looks like the most volatile compound of Fe is iron pentacarbonyl, whose boiling point is above 100 C. Unless anyone knows of one I missed?