The author replies to Petrusevski.
As one who has a deep interest in promoting the safe use of chemicals, I am pleased to note that people are reading, and reading carefully, the Chemical Laboratory Information Profiles (CLIPs) now being published in this Journal.It is also a distinct pleasure for an old, retired physical chemistry professor to have an opportunity to teach a bit of physical chemistry to an articulate and, I daresay, a concerned, colleague. Briefly put, the conclusion drawn by Petrusevski to the effect that potassium permanganate will not react with hydrofluoric acid is correct if the concentrations of the two reagents are such that these reagents are at unit activity, their temperature is 25 °C, and they are under a pressure of one atmosphere, and so on and so forth. However, if the above conditions are not met, there may, or may not, depending upon the details, be a reaction between these two chemicals. For details describing a reaction, somewhat violent in nature, between potassium permanganate and a concentrated solution of hydrofluoric acid see ref 1. Literature Cited- Black, A. M. et al. J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 1974, 977.
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