Recently, there has been an interest in xenon compounds where xenon is directly bonded to a less electronegative element than fluorine or oxygen, particularly carbon. Electron-withdrawing groups, such as groups with fluorine substitution, are necessary to stabilize these compounds. Numerous such compounds have been characterized, including:[92][97]
C6F5–Xe+–N≡C–CH3, where C6F5 is the pentafluorophenyl group.
[C6F5]2Xe
C6F5–Xe–X, where X is CN, F, or Cl.
R–C≡C–Xe+, where R is C2F−
5 or tert-butyl.
C6F5–XeF+
2
(C6F5Xe)2Cl+
Other compounds containing xenon bonded to a less electronegative element include F–Xe–N(SO2F)2 and F–Xe–BF2. The latter is synthesized from dioxygenyl tetrafluoroborate, O2BF4, at −100 °C.
An unusual ion containing xenon is the tetraxenonogold(II) cation, AuXe2+
4, which contains Xe–Au bonds.[99] This ion occurs in the compound AuXe4(Sb2F11)2, and is remarkable in having direct chemical bonds between two notoriously unreactive atoms, xenon and gold, with xenon acting as a transition metal ligand.
In 1995, M. Räsänen and co-workers, scientists at the University of Helsinki in Finland, announced the preparation of xenon dihydride (HXeH), and later xenon hydride-hydroxide (HXeOH), hydroxenoacetylene (HXeCCH), and other Xe-containing molecules. In 2008, Khriachtchev et al. reported the preparation of HXeOXeH by the photolysis of water within a cryogenic xenon matrix. Deuterated molecules, HXeOD and DXeOH, have also been produced.