A platinum iv fluoride is an interesting and often misunderstood element. This is a surprisingly difficult metal to work with and, while a good deal of research has been done in the field, much remains to be learned about its chemistry.
The most well known fluoride is probably the PtF6. It is a very unusual chemical compound that has only four d-electrons and is paramagnetic. It is also the most oxidation state fluoride of the platinum metals and is therefore the highest oxidation state of any of the six platinum group elements (PGE).
Although it is the best known hexafluoride, it is not the only one in the family. A number of other compounds are also worthy of mention but none have been fully characterised. In fact the most interesting and fun to experiment with is not the highest oxidation state fluoride but rather a class of carbonyl fluorides.
There are many more of these aficionados out there. The most recent developments in this arena have included the discovery and characterisation of a number of new fluoride hydrides, some of which are likely to be more useful than their precursors.
As far as fluoride chemistry is concerned, the Platinum group of metals has been somewhat under-studied for a number of reasons. However, in recent times it has been revealed that they have a very complex chemistry with many esoteric properties – as shown by the numerous fluorides and crystalline adducts that are now known for example. Among the most important is the fact that they all exhibit a very high degree of thermal stability at elevated temperatures. This is the main reason that they have remained a popular choice for use in applications such as high temperature steam generation and nuclear fusion reactors.