Compounds
See also: Van der Waals moleculeArgon's complete octet of electrons indicates full s and p subshells. This full outer energy level makes argon very stable and extremely resistant to bonding with other elements. Before 1962, argon and the other noble gases were considered to be chemically inert and unable to form compounds; however, compounds of the heavier noble gases have since been synthesized. In August 2000, the first argon compound was formed by researchers at the University of Helsinki. By shining ultraviolet light onto frozen argon containing a small amount of hydrogen fluoride with caesium iodide, argon fluorohydride (HArF) was formed. It is stable up to 40 kelvin (−233 °C). The metastable ArCF2+
2 dication, which is valence isoelectronic with carbonyl fluoride, was observed in 2010.
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