Abstract
IN the course of investigations on the reduction of metal halides by atomic hydrogen, using apparatus previously described1,2, I have found that the halides of lithium, sodium, potassium and caesium are all reduced to metal and hydrogen halide, resulting in the formation of metal mirrors on the walls of the reaction tube. The reaction apparently takes place in the vapour state during sublimation of the halides which is caused by the rise in temperature due to atomic recombinations. Unreduced sublimed halide may co-deposit with the metals or be deposited separately depending on temperature and relative volatility. It is possible to derive relative reaction rates for the halides: these are shown below: 
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References
McTaggart, F. K., and Turnbull, A. G., Aust. J. Chem., 17, No. 7, 727 (1964).
McTaggart, F. K., Nature, 199, 339 (1963).
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McTAGGART, F. Reduction of the Alkali and Alkaline Earth Halides by Active Hydrogen. Nature 206, 616 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/206616a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/206616a0


