Abstract
An attempt is made in the present review to arrange systematically the available data for the physicochemical and, primarily, chemical properties of sulphur hexafluoride. The inertness usually attributed to sulphur hexafluoride on the basis of early data obtained by Moissan hindered the investigation of its chemical properties. This gap is now being successfully filled. Data are presented showing that sulphur hexafluoride can serve as an effective fluorinating agent whose advantages are due to its high fluorine content, its non-toxicity, and the ease with which it can be handled. It is shown that further advances in the development of the chemistry of sulphur hexafluoride and of its practical applications depend significantly on the rate of development of research in this field.
The bibliography includes 236 references.