- British-born
chemist who in 1962 prepared the first compound of one of the
inert gases, which were previously thought to be incapable of
reacting with anything.
Bartlett was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and attended the University
of Durham. He took an appointment at the University of British
Columbia, Canada, 1958, became professor of chemistry at Princeton,
USA, 1966, and at the University of California, Berkeley, 1969.
In Canada Bartlett was working with platinum hexafluoride, PtF6,
and found that it is extremely reactive. When he reacted it with
xenon, the heaviest of the stable inert gases, he obtained xenon
platinofluoride (xenon fluoroplatinate, XePtF6), the first chemical
compound of an inert gas. Other compounds of xenon followed,
including xenon fluoride (XeF4) and xenon oxyfluoride (XeOF4).
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