Question

Phosphorus pentafluoride, PF5, acts as a __________ during the formation of the anion PF−6. Select the correct answer below: A. Lewis acid B. Lewis base C. catalyst D. drying agent

Answer 1

Lewis acid

Step-by-step explanation:

In chemistry, a Lewis acid is any chemical specie that accepts a lone pair of electrons while a Lewis base is any chemical specie that donates a lone pair of electrons.

If we look at the formation of PF6^-, the process is as follows;

PF5 + F^- -----> PF6^-

We can see that PF5 accepted a lone pair of electrons from F^- making PF5 a lewis acid according to our definition above.

Hence in the formation of PF6^-, PF5 acts a Lewis acid.