NationStates Jolt Archive

To everyone out there who knows a bit about Chemistry:

Which is the meanest, baddest, most horrible stuff out there?

I nominate Uranium Hexaflouride.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_hexaflouride

EDIT: Do you know of any Chemicals that can do other cool stuff or are interesting for any other reasons?

Unless you want to get into nerve agents or biological poisons, your best bet will probably be a fluorine compound like uranium hexafluoride. Hydrogen fluoride and diatomic fluorine are pretty insidious too. After that, I would suggest sulfuric and nitric acids.

I nominate Benzene (C6H6)

Firstly because its the daddy of all carcinogens.

And secondly because we had to write an essay and make a huge display on the damn thing for A-level chemistry

Francium - Pea sized portion, one bucket of water....nice big explosion...just think what a brick sized one could do...

I would of course have to nominate the Drzhen Carbinate. It's an interesting compound.

1. It sounds cool. People love cool.
2. People love when other people number their reasons.
3. My compound is the best.
4. It can make all kinds of things occur, such as the formation of jerky, since the process of dehydrating meat just seems so unreal, to where all our things disappear to.

I hope this helped solve people's problems. If not, too bad.

Francium - Pea sized portion, one bucket of water....nice big explosion...just think what a brick sized one could do...

Is it true there's only about 5 grams of Francium in human possession on the planet?

Dihydrogen monoxide! :eek:

Is it true there's only about 5 grams of Francium in human possession on the planet?
"Francium is the heaviest alkali metal and occurs as a result of actinium's alpha decay and can be artificially made by bombarding thorium with protons.

Even though it naturally occurs in uranium minerals, it has been estimated that there might be less than 30 grams of francium in the crust of the earth at any one time. It is the most unstable element among the first 101 and has the highest equivalent weight of any element."
From Wiki.

Dihydrogen monoxide! :eek:
*screams*
HELP!
*runs as fast as he can*
:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide

what are the substances being judged on? Toxicity, volatility, teratogenic/mutagenic properties, whether they give beer a funny aftertaste, whether the TA gets mad if you accidently spill a 17 M solution of it in her coffee, whether its ever been used on Star Trek by a villain to create a disaster to draw the Enterprise away from his true machinations?

I would of course have to nominate the Drzhen Carbinate. It's an interesting compound.

1. It sounds cool. People love cool.
2. People love when other people number their reasons.
3. My compound is the best.
4. It can make all kinds of things occur, such as the formation of jerky, since the process of dehydrating meat just seems so unreal, to where all our things disappear to.

I hope this helped solve people's problems. If not, too bad.

I thought this was meanest baddest chemical, that sounds pretty useful to me.

Is it true there's only about 5 grams of Francium in human possession on the planet?

No idea...but I did happen to see a film from a uni experiment where they managed to blow a hole in their roof by using the pea sized amount and a bucket of water...morons...

Dihydrogen monoxide! :eek:

I second this, due entirely to one of the funniest things I ever heard on the radio:

On a local politically-oriented talk show, some six or seven years ago, a woman called in to discuss a government conspiracy she'd heard about somewhere. At first she sounded tolerably sane, but then she revealed the nature of this government conspiracy - they were putting fluorine in the water! And it would poison us all! Because everyone knows that fluorine causes cancer and impotence and birth defects and maybe even AIDS!

The host, and his audience, listened, dumbfounded. Then the host said, very seriously, "Yeah, that's bad. But I'll tell you something worse that you probably haven't heard about."

"What?" said the woman.

"There's an even worse chemical that's been in the water supply for years."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's so bad that, in sufficient quantity, it can cause people to stop breathing altogether. And it's in every water fountain, every home, and every reservoir. It's even embedded in the polar ice caps!"

*gasp* "Oh my god."

"And the worst of it is, it's impossible to filter out. Even with the best filter in the world, you'll still be drinking high concentrations of this stuff. It's colorless, tasteless, and even under a high-power microscope, it looks just the same as water."

"Oh my god..."

"Do you want to know what it's called?"

"Of course!"

"Dihydrogen monoxide."

"That does sound worse than fluorine!"

"Oh, it is. The government doesn't want you to know about it, but it's in everything you drink. I suggest you write your congressman and protest. Tell him you know the truth."

"You know, I think I'll do that. It's just amazing the things the government thinks it can get away with!"

"I know, I know. That's why it's important to have an educated public who can catch them when they're screwing with you *cough*...with your life."

"Exactly! What was that stuff called again?"

"Dihydrogen monoxide."

"I'll write that letter right now."

"I hope you do. I really hope you do."

I hope she did, too. :D

*snip*

Now that's very bad. I mean, its on a radio. How many activist do you think this talk show host created in a day?

I bet there was an angry lynch mob after they all found out.

But not before the host had a good laugh. ^^

Francium - Pea sized portion, one bucket of water....nice big explosion...just think what a brick sized one could do...

What about Radium, thas radioactive aswel as Francium

I nominate MERCURY because it looks cool it when melted, made hat makers go insane back in the day.

Phosphorus.

Anything that catches on fire because of the air scares me.

Prussic acid. If not that, then Francium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussic_acid

Or better, C21H30O2

Evil stuff :p

Haha, I'm loving the Dihydrogen Monoxide.
The sad thing is, I think I remember going through DHMO.org and being shocked.
God I'm sad...

Prussic acid. If not that, then Francium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussic_acid

Yeah i always thought francium and a swimming pool would lead to some good old mayhem

Obviously, you people haven't seen what I can accomplish with a little superglue. Now THAT is some horrible stuff! :D

what are the substances being judged on?
Just general "cool " properties...

As for actual deadliness, I have yet to see something worse than UF6 - highly toxic, reacts violently with water, corrosive to most metals, and radioactive. And it is generally used in gaseous form...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_hexaflouride

Just give me a couple of grams of anti-hydrogen. You know, positrons orbiting (maybe in a quantum sort of way) around anti-protons. Now there is a dangerous chemical.

Dihydrogen Monoxide.

I nominate my flatulence.

I nominate MERCURY because it looks cool it when melted, made hat makers go insane back in the day.
Mad as a hatter eh?

Plutonium Hydride ... don't mix it with water.

The original massive pollution of the entire earth was caused by this It caused the death of countless species and, it was the result of organisms unable to resist polluting their own environment. I nominate oxygen.

Post-industrial Koolade...

4-Aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene, Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether 2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, carbon disulfide, Dibromochloropane, chlorinated benzenes, 2-Nitropropane, pentachlorophenol, Benzotrichloride, strontium chromate 1, 2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane

I like dioxins... :rolleyes:

Prussic acid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussic_acid

Hey, that shit is cool. I get to work with Pottasium Ferro Cyanide now and again @ my day job (sculptural restoration) It in conjunction with 150-175 centrigrade and applied to bronze, copper, brass or aluminum it makes an awesome dark blue patina on the metal surface. Injected into living things, it turns them bright blue!

[Ralph Wiggum] I like blue...... [/Ralph Wiggum]

I have two letters for you (I dont know why no one has suggested this yet)

VX (http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/vx/VX.htm)

I have two letters for you (I dont know why no one has suggested this yet)

VX (http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/vx/VX.htm)
Pshaw. (anyone who uses "The Rock" as anything other than an example of Hollywood's piss-poor knowledge of chemical weapons IMO is immediately suspect.)

Organophosphates are boring. They are naturally extremely viscous, deadly for only a short period of time (after volitalization) and require solvents and aerosolization to become remotely interesting. I could keep a coffee mug of pure VX on my desktop and as long as I didn't drink it or stick my finger into it it wouldn't hurt anybody.

Plus, it makes a really excellent bug spray when properly diluted and chemically bound with the dilution agents (no reconcentration allowed). Proper use of (diluted) existing VX stock could eliminate the mosquito/malaria problem from Africa once and for all.

I'd have to go with hydrofluoric acid (HF). Exposure to it leaches all the calcium from your body, killing you, but slowly and painfully.

As for neato "Mister Wizard" chemicals, there's nitrogen tri-iodide, which is inert when liquid, but once it dries, it explodes on impact. Makes a good prank chemical.

Anyone ever hear of Chloridium Botulism?

I once read that this was the deadliest substance on earth :gundge:

Anyone ever hear of Chloridium Botulism?

I once read that this was the deadliest substance on earth :gundge:
You mean BoTox? :rolleyes:

Dilution is the Solution to Polution...

I am not sure about dillution or anything, but I did read about it once...in an actual library, not online ;)

It stated something to the degree that if a few parts per billion were released it would kill every living thing on earth.

I may have the name wrong, but memory keeps telling me thats what it was...

Zyklon B (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zyklon_B)

I'd have to say methanol. It is much more common than a lot of toxic substances, is easy to confuse with ethanol, smells quite pleasant, and is deadly in fairly small quantities. Bootleg vodka in Eastern Europe has methanol poisoning problems because they add it due to cheapness.

Ethylene glycol is a close second for "false friend" chemicals that smell/taste good but are deadly.

what are the substances being judged on? Toxicity, volatility, teratogenic/mutagenic properties, whether they give beer a funny aftertaste, whether the TA gets mad if you accidently spill a 17 M solution of it in her coffee, whether its ever been used on Star Trek by a villain to create a disaster to draw the Enterprise away from his true machinations?


Exactly!

I nominate:
O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate (http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/appgb.html) Not someting I want around me (especially after the events of March 20, 1995, in Tokyo).
Ethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate (http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/appga.html) ain't too fun to be around.
O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothioate (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/vx/basics/facts.asp) is rather unpleasant.
cyanogen chloride (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/cyanide/erc506-77-4.asp) is not nice to put into tea.
carbonyl chloride (http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/erd/chemicals/7/6910.html) is down right no fun.
2-chlorovinyldichloroarsine, (2-chloroethenyl)arsinous dichloride or dichloro- (2-chlorovinyl) arsine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewisite) Is pretty damned nasty as well.

All of the above are corrossive and exceedingly toxic.

I vote for carbon compounds. Organic chemicals comprise the bulk of our explosives, poisons, and all dangerous organisms we know of are carbon based. Organic chemistry is bad ass.

take any alkali metal and mix it with water
explosive fun my friends...explosive fun

Anyone ever hear of Chloridium Botulism?

I once read that this was the deadliest substance on earth :gundge:

I assume you mean　Botulinum Toxin？

Debatable, depending on exactly what that means.
I've heard similar claims about and [url=http://www.nbc-med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/FieldManuals/medman/Staphylo.htm]Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (]anhydrotetrodotoxin 4-epitetrodotoxin, tetrodonic acid[/url).

Both those are significantly faster acting. And O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate, Ethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate, O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothioate all have very similar ld50s. and are significantly more fast acting than Botulinum Toxin

Diacetylmorphine AKA Heroin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin)
Its :cool: FUN :) and :eek: DEADLY! :( What more can you ask for in a deadly chemical?

carbonyl chloride (http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/erd/chemicals/7/6910.html) is down right no fun.
Can be neutralised with Sodium Bicarbonate...
:D

in water though

To everyone out there who knows a bit about Chemistry:

Which is the meanest, baddest, most horrible stuff out there?

I nominate Uranium Hexaflouride.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_hexaflouride

EDIT: Do you know of any Chemicals that can do other cool stuff or are interesting for any other reasons?

Maybe you can help me out... I was told there is a rocket fuel that smells like fish... and once you noticed that fish smell you were already to far gone to save. True or not true and if so what is it called/

Thank you.

:D Maybe you can help me out...
Yay! I made people think I know stuff!
No, I haven't had anything to do with Chemistry since Junior High School. What I know is pretty much all researched on the spot.
Maybe someone else knows?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylmercury

That's some scary shit right there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosgene

This stuff's pretty bad too.

:D
Yay! I made people think I know stuff!
No, I haven't had anything to do with Chemistry since Junior High School. What I know is pretty much all researched on the spot.
Maybe someone else knows?

LOL ... I was really looking forward to the possibiltiy of not having to look it up.... now it is just going to bother me all night till i finally research it.

Side note: I like the thread.

I think my compound is going to win.

Botulinum and tetanospasmin are possibly the two most toxic naturally-occuring substances to humans. Interestingly, both are from the same genus (Clostridium), and also interesting, these two toxins have almost exactly opposite effects: botulinum blocks the nerve receptors that trigger the impulses that cause muscles to contract, leading to paralysis, and tetanospasmin blocks the receptors that inhibit these same impulses, leading to violent spasms and rigidity. Both lead to death by suffocation. A nickel's-weight of either of these toxins would be enough to kill about 200 000 people. :eek:

One of my personal favorites has to be nickel carbonyl, since I once worked for INCO (a nickel-mining company), and they used large quantities of this substance for purifying nickel ore. During my initial training on the job, they described this substance, and where at the plant it was being used (about two kilometers away), and also described the alarm that would sound if there were a leak. Then, to my delight, they added the following statement: "If you hear this alarm... don't bother running, it's too late." :D

Probably a bit of hyperbole, but it is nasty stuff. Volatile and highly toxic, with a musty odour. Of course, it only becomes detectable by smell at concentrations several thousand times higher than lethal levels. :)

Oh... and tetrahydrocannabinol. Everyone loves tetrahydrocannabinol. :p

That's some scary shit right there.

"Karen Wetterhahn (Died June 8, 1997) was a well-known professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College specializing in toxic metal exposure. On August 14, 1996 while working with an organic mercury compound called dimethylmercury, she spilled a drop or two on her latex glove. Several months later, she noticed some neurologic symptoms such as loss of balance and slurred speech. She was admitted to the hospital, where it was discovered that the single exposure to dimethylmercury has raised her blood mercury level to 80 times the lethal dose. Despite aggressive chelation therapy, she fell into a coma and died a few months later, less than a year after her initial exposure.

Her death, despite use of gloves, a fume hood, and standard safety procedures, shocked her chemistry department. They tested various safety gloves against dimethylmercury, apparently for the first time ever, and found that most of them were penetrated in seconds. Dimethylmercury was in fairly wide use as a standard for calibrating diagnostic instruments. The discovery of its extreme toxicity and danger is directly due to Karen Wetterhahn's unfortunate accident. OSHA recommendations and MSDSes were changed in consequence and use of dimethylmercury has been highly discouraged.

The irony of her death, from the very agents that she specialized in, makes her death particularly poignant.

Dartmouth has established an award in her name to encourage other women in Science."

From Wiki.

White Phosphorous
Not "the" most bad ass, but all the rest have been said.

Does anyone remember the mysterious woman who was rushed into an hospital emergency ward, and when they drew blood from her, it evolved an unknown, deadly neurotoxic gas?

"DMSO received more attention in 1994 in the mysterious toxic fumes poisoning of emergency room doctors at Riverside General Hospital (California) as they attempted to treat cancer patient Gloria Ramirez. It was theorized by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories that a chemical reaction occurred between DMSO and oxygen administered during ambulance transportation creating DMSO2, and that the DMSO2 was further oxidized to DMSO4 -- a lethal gas [6]. This theory has not been proven, and may always be controversial because its veracity affects the outcome of litigation on the case. The possibility that a quack cancer remedy was responsible for this medical mystery is intriguing. DMSO continues to be used by a number of quack cancer clinics in Mexico, the Bahamas, and the United States."

I seem to remember that becoming fodder for an X-Files episode or two. :)

Another favorite: anyone else see those occasional anti-smoking commercials, where they list off all those horrible, poisonous chemicals that can be found in cigarette smoke, like formaldehyde and cyanide? Ironically, nicotine itself is at least five times more toxic to humans (by weight) than cyanide is. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosgene

This stuff's pretty bad too.

Already been named. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9232405&postcount=40) ;)

One of my personal favorites has to be nickel carbonyl, since I once worked for INCO (a nickel-mining company), and they used large quantities of this substance for purifying nickel ore. During my initial training on the job, they described this substance, and where at the plant it was being used (about two kilometers away), and also described the alarm that would sound if there were a leak. Then, to my delight, they added the following statement: "If you hear this alarm... don't bother running, it's too late."

Reminds me of when my mom was a lab tech for Dow Chemical. She worked right across the street from a huge storage tank full of ammonia. She got a similar safety warning, along the lines of if that fails, you'll know about it for about 5 seconds.

Oh... and tetrahydrocannabinol. Everyone loves tetrahydrocannabinol.

:D

I nominate C6H12O6 as the greatest chemical ever.

Maybe you can help me out... I was told there is a rocket fuel that smells like fish... and once you noticed that fish smell you were already to far gone to save. True or not true and if so what is it called/

Thank you.

I think that is hydrazine or di-hydrazine [NH2]n 2(NH2)

Plutonium is incredibly toxic

lysergic acid dietylamide is too much fun for fish driving a cheese

And for some easy to make
Di-etyhl suplhide is a nice vescicant
COCl a good asphixiant
And good old Ethanoic acid when glacial and heated will make you run a mile
Benzoyl peroxide if I remember right gets set off by very little KE input (don't fart around it)

and my favorite which I make and injest in equally large quanitities ethanol

Arrrh things to do with nitric acid, thems where the days...

Cone Snail Venom.

Pshaw. (anyone who uses "The Rock" as anything other than an example of Hollywood's piss-poor knowledge of chemical weapons IMO is immediately suspect.)

I havent seen that


Organophosphates are boring. They are naturally extremely viscous, deadly for only a short period of time (after volitalization) and require solvents and aerosolization to become remotely interesting. I could keep a coffee mug of pure VX on my desktop and as long as I didn't drink it or stick my finger into it it wouldn't hurt anybody.

Yes but remeber its molicules are adhesive and thus if a body of something slightly denser than air entred your room (say water vapour for example) then theres a good chance that the molicules will stick to it and if you breathe it in you will be dead. In fact you dont even need to breathe it, it enters via the skin. And the leathal dose can be less than 10 ml, in context the avarage raindrop is 80 ml.


Plus, it makes a really excellent bug spray when properly diluted and chemically bound with the dilution agents (no reconcentration allowed). Proper use of (diluted) existing VX stock could eliminate the mosquito/malaria problem from Africa once and for all.

Yes, and leave the VX stuck to loads of trees and other surfaces so any one toching those surfaces could quite easily die

I nominate my medication: Lithium (Li)
-People with bipolar disorder (like me) find themselves more stable when using it regularly
-lightest known element
-lithium stearate: great lubricant
-explosive in air and water when isolated
-toxic: used in chemical weapons. acute lithium poisoning includes confusion, cramp-coma and death.

That IS a cool chemical.

*screams*
HELP!
*runs as fast as he can*
:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide

You cannot run from yourself... :p

I nominate C6H12O6 as the greatest chemical ever.

Damn, you beat me to it. Still, its also the chemical responsible for the obesity epidemic! It must be destroyed!

I nominate the R-waffe plasmoid explosive. Developed by the Germans near the end of WWII, R-waffe is an incindiary explosive derived from Uranium oxide that causes a massive firestorm when detonated, it is so unstable that its containers have to be lined with gold to keep it from exploding and it is highly radioactive (and not pussy Alpha or Beta radiation, it's Gamma and Neutron radiation, the bad stuff)

Plutonium. Five Kg is enough to poison severyone on the planet, not to mention its use in atomic bombs and dirty bombs.

Antiprotons, antineurons and positrons.

BOOM!

I havent seen thatGood movie, bad science.
Yes but remeber its molicules are adhesive and thus if a body of something slightly denser than air entred your room (say water vapour for example) then theres a good chance that the molicules will stick to it and if you breathe it in you will be dead. In fact you dont even need to breathe it, it enters via the skin. And the leathal dose can be less than 10 ml, in context the avarage raindrop is 80 ml.Um, no. Not unless you have aerosolized it. In a cup it is nonvolitile and looks and flows rather like cold molasses.
Originally Posted by Syniks
Plus, it makes a really excellent bug spray when properly diluted and chemically bound with the dilution agents (no reconcentration allowed). Proper use of (diluted) existing VX stock could eliminate the mosquito/malaria problem from Africa once and for all.Yes, and leave the VX stuck to loads of trees and other surfaces so any one toching those surfaces could quite easily dieUm, no again. The active ingrediaent in most bug spray (i.e. Raid) is an organophosphate not too different than VX. If our existing stock of VX were diluted properly with the correct volitiles, and in a manner to prevent reconcentration, it would be safer than DDT - since nonlethal concentrations are simply excreted rather than stored.

VX is funny that way. It either kills you or your body ignores it - utterly.

And now for some nasty, nasty, nasty non-fatals:
butanediamine and pentamethylenediamine are rather icky. Don't get any on you (at least not any more than you produce naturally.)

(Those are Putrescine and Cadaverine, respectively, and are two of the main aromatics responsible for the stench of rotting flesh.)

I nominate my medication: Lithium (Li)
-People with bipolar disorder (like me) find themselves more stable when using it regularly
-lightest known element
-lithium stearate: great lubricant
-explosive in air and water when isolated
-toxic: used in chemical weapons. acute lithium poisoning includes confusion, cramp-coma and death.

That IS a cool chemical.

Uhmmm... while Lithium is quite cool, it's not lighter than Hydrogen. In fact it's number 3. Hydrogen and Helium are both lighter. ;)

Damn, you beat me to it. Still, its also the chemical responsible for the obesity epidemic! It must be destroyed!

Actually, I find C12-H22-O11 to be more responsible, at least in some cases.

Uhmmm... while Lithium is quite cool, it's not lighter than Hydrogen. In fact it's number 3. Hydrogen and Helium are both lighter. ;)

And positronium is lighter than both of them!

And positronium is lighter than both of them!

Hmmm.... Is it really considered an element though? And if that's an element, wouldn't Pionium be even lighter. (warning: I am reaching the limits of my comfortable undertanding of physical chemisty on this one... ;))

A few people near the beginning of the thread mentioned Benzene...

...Well, I'll have you know that in downtown Houston, the air is constantly tested, due to the massive level of industry just miles away. Month after month, three times the safe level of Benzene has been found in the air... It may not be the most dangerous chemical around, but in such extreme volumes, it's quite toxic.

well we were playing with hydrochloric acid (HCL? I forget...) once in my college chemistry lab... i spilled just a little bit on my bookbag and it burned a hole in my poor bag.

lol

as for the worst, I would submit VX gas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VX

This thread is pointless. People don't want to know the answer, or any definite answer. They want to imagine how a real chemical could be something like they saw on Star Trek or Superman. Might as well say adamantium, kryptonite, or tachyonium.

Anyway. Radioactives are radioactive. Radioactivity doesn't depend on the chemistry at all. It's not really about "chemical", but "element".

The very opposite of harmless must be xenon fluoride. You thought that noble gases can't form compounds. Xenon's large electron shell can lend a spare electron to something highly reactive, such as fluorine. Now, the obvious problem is that the decomposition products are both unreactive gases. Chemical - not nuclear - decomposition is, if understated, "violent": only 50 micrograms are known to punch a hole thru a 2 cm "explosion-proof" security shell. That is micrograms.

-snip-
Just having a bit of fun. It really doesn't matter how bad stuff is, it'll kill you anyways in the right amounts.
And Uranium Hexaflouride can do all the nasty stuff other flourides can do and is radioactive. It didn't specify that it had to be a chemical reaction, just that it had to be a chemical...

The very opposite of harmless must be xenon fluoride. You thought that noble gases can't form compounds. Xenon's large electron shell can lend a spare electron to something highly reactive, such as fluorine. Now, the obvious problem is that the decomposition products are both unreactive gases. Chemical - not nuclear - decomposition is, if understated, "violent": only 50 micrograms are known to punch a hole thru a 2 cm "explosion-proof" security shell. That is micrograms.

Is that XF? I remember a while ago we had Xenon hexa-Flouride on a basic molecular geometry quiz, and it threw me a bit. X F 6 should have 50 valence electrons by my count, 48 of which I show in the 6 octets, but that leaves 2 in an unbonded pair, which I thought would repel the adjacent atoms and distort the octahedral shape, almost into a decahedron with a point sheared off. I also thought that would give the molecule as a whole at least some polarity. But the answer was "octahedral, non-polar" in the key. Is this the stuff, and why is it non-polar? I went to ask the prof, but the look on his face indicated I should spend his time VERY carefully...

EDIT: okay, I found something on the geometry, but still can't figure out why its not polar...