[staticidiot]

Hi people, I'm wondering why SnI4 can be soluble in Chloroform (Non-Polar Solvent) and Acetone (Polar Solvent) at the same time. SnI4 is tetrahedral in shape, so the charge should be distributed quite evenly.. heee.. has it got to do with the nature of bonding of the compound? Charge maybe?

 

[hmx9123]

Sometimes solubility is baffling.  There may be some specific, detailed answer to this, but I would usually just shrug.  Methanol and pentane do not layer, which I thought they would because of the difference in polarity and hydrogen bonding, so there are surprises everywhere.

[KhemistKen]

Perhaps the SnI₄ is forming a complex with the acetone.  Since it can form SnI₆^2-, I assume there might be room for an acetone or two.

[shelanachium]

Acetone, though polar, is not so very polar that it will not dissolve nonpolar substances like fats and varnishes (it is often sold as nail-varnish remover). Other polar organic substances such as ethanol and ethyl acetate behave similarly. Only solvents of extreme polarity and hydrogen-bonding ability, such as water and HF, fail to dissolve non-polar substances.

SnI4 though nonpolar can dissolve both in non-polar solvents and highly polar ones like water; in the latter case indeed the polar solvent adds to the Sn co-ordination sphere, as hmx9123 points out. Many nonpolar halides capable of higher co-ordination will dissolve in polar solvents, eg BF3, TiCl4, SnCl4 and in the case of water they often are completely decomposed e.g. TiCl4 + 2H2O ---> TiO2 + 4HCl.