
Reentry to the home is allowed when the concentration level is at or below 5 ppm. Possible leakages are also checked by low range electronic detectors. The concentration is continuously monitored and maintained at the specified level using electronic equipment.
SO2 MOLECULAR GEOMETRY SHAPE LICENSE
Most states require a license or certification for the individual applying the fumigant. In the US, sulfuryl fluoride must be transported in a vehicle marked with "Inhalation Hazard 2" placards. California regulations are such that the tent will be on for three to five days, which includes ventilation. The building must then be ventilated, generally for at least 6 hours, before occupants can return. Fumigation methodology ĭuring application, the building is enclosed and filled with the gas for a period of time, usually at least 16–18 hours, sometimes as long as 72 hours. It is an alternative to the use of phosphine, which is acutely toxic.

Its use has increased as a replacement for methyl bromide, which was phased out because of harm to the ozone layer. Less commonly, it can also be used to control rodents, powderpost beetles, deathwatch beetles, bark beetles, and bedbugs. Originally developed by the Dow Chemical Company, sulfuryl fluoride is in widespread use as a structural fumigant insecticide to control drywood termites, particularly in warm-weather portions of the southwestern and southeastern United States and in Hawaii. Sulfuryl fluoride gas is a precursor to fluorosulfates and sulfamoyl fluorides: SO 2F 2 + ROH + base → ROSO 2F + Hbase +F − Use as a fumigant Similarly it is slow to hydrolyze, but eventually converts to sulfur trioxide.

Sulfuryl fluoride is unreactive toward molten sodium metal. On a laboratory scale, sulfuryl fluoride has been conveniently prepared from 1,1'-sulfonyldiimidazole, in the presence of potassium fluoride and acid. It can be prepared by direct reaction of fluorine with sulfur dioxide: Heating metal fluorosulfonate salts also gives this molecule: Ba(OSO 2F) 2 → BaSO 4 + SO 2F 2 This salt is then chlorinated to give sulfuryl chloride fluoride:įurther heating at 180 ☌ of potassium fluorosulfite with the sulfuryl chloride fluoride gives the desired product: SO 2ClF + KSO 2F → SO 2F 2 + KCl + SO 2 One synthesis begins with the preparation of potassium fluorosulfite: SO 2 + KF → KSO 2F As predicted by VSEPR, the O-S-O angle is more open than the F-S-F angle, 124° and 97°, respectively. The S-O distance is 140.5 pm, S-F is 153.0 pm. The molecule is tetrahedral with C 2v symmetry.

It is neurotoxic and a potent greenhouse gas, but is widely used as a fumigant insecticide to control termites. It is an easily condensed gas and has properties more similar to sulfur hexafluoride than sulfuryl chloride, being resistant to hydrolysis even up to 150 ☌. Sulfuryl fluoride (also spelled sulphuryl fluoride) is an inorganic compound with the formula SO 2F 2.
