Hundreds of helium compounds could be hiding in Earth’s mantle

Now, Eva Zurek from State University of New York at Buffalo, Mao-sheng Miao from California State University Northridge and colleagues have discovered helium can react with salts that have an uneven number of anions and cations, like magnesium fluoride, MgF2. While magnesium fluoride is expected to only be stable at pressures equivalent to those at the Earth’s centre – 300GPa – calcium fluoride might react with the noble gas at pressures as low as 30GPa. This is despite the fact that helium doesn’t actually form any chemical bonds.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/hundreds-of-helium-compounds-could-be-hiding-in-earths-mantle-/3008895.article

Chemistry World