TiCl4

Melting point Boiling point Solubility

-24.1 C, 249 K, -11 F 136.4 C, 410 K, 278 F soluble in ethanol, HCl

Properties and structure TiCl4 is a dense, colourless distillable liquid, although crude samples may be yellow or even red-brown. Production TiCl4 is produced by the chloride process, which involves the reduction of titanium oxide ores, typically ilmenite (FeTiO3) with carbon under flowing chlorine at 900 C. Impurities are removed by distillation. 2 FeTiO3 + 7 Cl2 + 6 C 2 TiCl4 + 2 FeCl3 + 6 CO Applications Production of titanium metal The conversion takes place by the reduction of the chloride with magnesium metal, and yields titanium metal and magnesium chloride. This procedure is the final step of the Kroll process: 2 Mg + TiCl4 2 MgCl2 + Ti Liquid sodium has also been used instead of magnesium as the reducing agent. Production of titanium dioxide The conversion involves hydrolysis of TiCl4, a process that forms hydrogen chloride:[6] TiCl4 + 2 H2O TiO2 + 4 HCl In some cases, TiCl4 is oxidised directly with oxygen:

TiCl4 + O2 TiO2 + 2 Cl2

TiCl3

TiCl3 is produced usually by reduction of titanium(IV) chloride. Older reduction methods used hydrogen:[2] 2 TiCl4 + H2 2 HCl + 2 TiCl3 Its hydrate can be synthesised by dissolving titanium in aqueous hydrochloric acid. 2 Ti + 6 HCl + 3 H2O 2 TiCl3(H2O)3 + 3 H2 TiCl3 forms a variety of coordination complexes, most of which are octahedral. The lightblue crystalline adduct TiCl3(THF)3 forms when TiCl3 is treated with tetrahydrofuran.[4] TiCl3 + 3 C4H8O TiCl3(OC4H8)3 Applications TiCl3 is the main Ziegler-Natta catalyst, responsible for most industrial production of polypropylene. The catalytic activities depend strongly on the polymorph and the method of preparation.[8] Safety TiCl3 and most of its complexes are typically handled under an air-free conditions to prevent reactions with oxygen and moisture. Depending on the method for its preparation, samples of TiCl3 can be relatively air stable or pyrophoric.