Silver subfluoride is the inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 with the formula Ag₂F. This is an unusual example of a compound where the oxidation state

Oxidation state

In chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. The formal oxidation state is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all bonds to atoms of different elements were 100% ionic. Oxidation states are typically represented by...

 of silver is fractional. The is prepared by the reaction of silver and silver fluoride

Silver fluoride

Silver fluoride can refer to:* Silver fluoride , AgF* Silver difluoride , AgF2* Silver subfluoride , Ag2F...

:

Ag + AgF → Ag₂F

It forms small crystals with a bronze reflex and is a good conductor of electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

. On contact with water almost instant hydrolysis

Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...

 occurs with the precipitation of silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 (Ag) powder.

Crystal structure

Ag₂F adopts the anti-CdI₂ crystal structure

Crystal structure

In mineralogy and crystallography, crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystalline liquid or solid. A crystal structure is composed of a pattern, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice exhibiting long-range order and symmetry...

, i.e. the same structure as cadmium iodide

Cadmium iodide

Cadmium iodide, CdI2, is a chemical compound of cadmium and iodine. It is notable for its crystal structure, which is typical for compounds of the form MX2 with strong polarization effects.-Uses:...

, CdI₂, but with "Ag^½+ " centres in the I⁻ positions and F⁻ in the Cd²⁺ positions. The shortest distance between silver atoms is 299.6 pm (compared to 289 pm in the metal).