GROUP V ELEMENTS

Group V consists of Nitrogen-N, Phosphorus-P, Arsenic-As, Antimony-Sb and Bismuth-

Bi.

Electron configuration on valency shell

ns2np3
However, the electronic configuration of the core differs. In the case of nitrogen and
phosphorus it is that of the preceding noble gas, whereas for As and Sb it is noble gas
plus d10 and for Bi it is noble gas plus d10f14. This is reflected in the properties of these
elements.

Compounds formation:
N-
P- -covalent bonding
As-
Sb- -tendency of ionic compounds formation
Bi- increases down the group.

Table 1: Some physical properties of Group V elements

Property N(7) P(15) As(33) Sb(51) Bi(83)

Electronic [He]2s22p3 [Ne]3s23p3 [Ar]3d104s24p3 [Kr]4d105s25p3 [Xe]4f145d106s26p3
configuration
Bond energy 160 209 180 142 -
(E-E, kJmol-1)
Melting pt (K) 63 317(white) 1090 903 544
Boiling pt.(K) 77 553(white) 883 1653 1833
Density (gm-3) 0.81 1.82(white) 5.73 6.7 9.8
Electronegativity 3.05 2.05 2.2 1.8 1.65
IE (kJmol-1)
(I+II+III) 8,839 5,864 5,478 4,866 4,766
(I+II+III+IV+V) 25,755 17,090 16,357 14,469 14,490
Common -3, -2, -1, -3, (1) -3, 3, 5 (-3), 3, 5 3, (5)
oxidation states 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 3, 5

Note: The oxidation states in brackets correspond to less stable oxidation state of the
element.

Occurrence
Nitrogen is the most abundant uncombined element accessible to man. It comprises
78.1% of the atmosphere by volume. Despite its readily availability in the atmosphere,
nitrogen is relatively less abundant (1.9x10-3%) in the crustal rocks and soils of earth. A
few major mineral are saltpeter, KNO3 and Chile saltpeter, NaNO3. Phosphorus is the
11th element in order of abundance in the crustal rocks of the earth, its occurrence being
to the extent of 0.112%.All its known terrestrial minerals are orthophosphates. Both
nitrogen and phosphorus occur in all living beings. They are present in the proteins and in
the genetic material deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. Phosphorus as Ca(PO4)2 is also

1
present in bones and teeth. As, Sb and Bi are comparatively less abundant in the earth’s
crust. They mostly occur as sulphides.

Oxidation state or valence:

They exhibit formal oxidation states from -3 to +5.

Theoretically they could gain three electrons to form the ionic species M-3 or can loose
five electrons to form M5+. Compounds containing M-3 are known but the species M5+ has
never been observed as such. As you can see from Table 1 the energy required to produce
M5+ is so immense that it is never formed. The compounds formed by these elements in
+5 oxidation state are thus predominantly covalent.
The stability of +3 state relative to the +5 state increases on moving down the group. Sb
and Bi tend to form compounds containing cations, and the highest charge observed is
M3+ due to inert pair effect. (Note that the sum of the first three IEs is just low enough to
form M3+ ions).
For nitrogen a very wide range of oxidation states exists; -3 in NH3; -2 in N2H4; -1 in
NH2OH; 0 in N2; +1 in N2O; +2 in NO; +3 in HNO3; +4 in NO2 and +5 in [Link]
negative oxidation states of nitrogen arise because of its higher electronegativity (3.05)
than that of hydrogen (2.1).[ref to Table 1].
Since it is not easy from energy considerations to gain three electrons to achieve stable
noble gas configuration, the formation of M3- ion is rare. But nitrogen being the smallest
and the most electronegative of all the members of the group, forms trivalent anion with
reactive metals which have low IEs. Thus nitrogen forms ionic nitrides such as Li3N,
Mg3N2, Ca3N2.

Expansion of orbitals;

Nitrogen is not able to expand its coordination number beyond four; the other elements
have coordination numbers of five as well as six. The extension of coordination number
is due to the availability of d-orbitals in P, As, Sb and Bi. By using the d-orbitals these
elements can attain sp3d and sp3d2 hybridization, e.g., in PCl5 and PCl6-, respectively.
Thus, nitrogen does not function as Lewis acid whereas P, As, Sb and Bi do so.

The elements:

Nitrogen:
Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature while other elements are solids and they exhibit a
number of allotropic forms.
Nitrogen is very inert at room temperature it possesses multiple bonds i.e., N N which
consist of one bond and two bonds.

Phosphorus:
Phosphorus exists in six forms which are:-
White (P4, cubic and hexagonal); Violet (P8 and P9 units); Scarlet; Black and Red.
The best three characterized ones are:-
1. White phosphorus: exists as discrete tetrahedral P4 molecules in the gaseous, liquid

2
 and solid states. According to MOT angle <PPP should be 90o but practically
it is 60o. Due to that, this molecule suffers angular strain hence it is very
reactive. The value of the strain is 95.7kJmol-1.

P
2.21o
60o
P
P

Properties:-
• It spontaneously catches fire in air.
• Is soft, appreciably volatile and poisonous, soluble in organic solvents but not in
water.
• It is stored under water to protect it from oxygen
• It glows in the dark with faint green glow, due to phosphorescence.

2. Red phosphorus: When white phosphorus is heated in a nitrogen atmosphere at 260oC

it is converted into a red crystalline solid. One of the P-P bonds in P4 is broken
and a polymeric form of phosphorus is formed. Because of its polymeric structure
in which angles are less strained, it is less reactive.

P P

P P P P
P
P P
3. Black phosphorus: Heating white phosphorus under high pressure results in black
phosphorus which is inert and has layer structure resembling graphite. Like
graphite it has metallic luster and is a conductor of heat and electricity. It is the
most metallic of the allotropes of phosphorus and is often called metallic
phosphorus.

3
 P P
P P P

P P P
P P P P
H
P P P P
P P P

Arsenic and antimony:

They form three solid forms being yellow, black and metallic.

Catenation
Nitrogen forms compounds containing a maximum of eight nitrogen atoms in a chain.
Many of these compounds incorporate multiple bonded systems such as –N=N- which
carry hydrogen or organic substituents.
E.g., R2N-N=NR2; R2N-N=N-NR2; RN=N-NR-NR2; RN=N-NR-N=N-NR-N=NR;
RN=N-NR-N=NR, etc. where R represents an organic radical (some R’s may be H, but
known compounds contain only a few H’s).

BONDING IN NITROGEN.

Electron configuration of nitrogen atom N= 1s22s22p3. So nitrogen can complete its

valence shell in the following way:-
1. Electron gain to form nitride ion N3-(found in saltlike nitride of most electropositive
metals). E.g.: Li3N; Ca3N2; Mg3N2 etc.

2. Formation of electron pair bond:

• Single bonds as in NH3 or NF3
• Multiple bond formation as in N N ; or
.. .. ..
-N=N- or NO2: N
..
O
..
..O
..
..

3. Formation of electron pair bonds with electron gain. E.g.:-

(i) Amide ion NH2-

... . - .. x -
.N
. + 2H + e H N. = NH2
-
H

4
(ii) Imide ion NH2-
... . . - .. x 2-
.N
. + H + 2e H .x .
N = NH
2-

4. Formation of electron pair bond with electron loss.

E.g.; NH4+- tetrahedral ammonium and substituted ions NR4+

NH3 + H+ NH4+
..

or NR3 + RX NR4+ + X-
..

Comparison between Nitrogen and Phosphorus

Differences in their chemistry are due to:-

Nitrogen Phosphorus
1. Very strong p -p bonds. Unstable p -p bonds
2. p -d is rare Weak to moderate but important d - p and
d -d bonding
3. no valence expansion Valence expansion by utilizing the lower-
lying 3d orbitals

Why is E (N-N) < E (P-P)?

Bond energies:
N-N = 167 kJmol-1
P-P = 207 kJmol-1
AS-As = 180 kJmol-1
Sb = Sb = 142 kJmol-1
The repulsion between lone pairs on N lengthens and weakens the bond between N-N
atoms. E.g.:
H H
.. ..
N N
H H , whereas such repulsion would be less in P-P
because lone pairs on larger atoms are further apart and lead to less repulsion.

Why is E(N N) >> E(P P)?

Bond energies:
N N 944 kJmol-1
P P 485 kJmol-1

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In N2, (N N) orbitals overlap between 2p orbitals is much more effective than such
overlap using p orbitals of high principal quantum number ( In phosphorus 3p orbitals are
used).

HYDRIDES

All elements of Group V form trihydride (monomeric hydrides) of the general formula
MH3. In addition to these, nitrogen also forms N2H2 (H2NNH2-hydrazine); N3H
(hydrogen azide); HNNH (diimine); N4H4 (tetrazene), and phosphorus gives P2H4.

Table 2: Properties of Group V trihydrides

Property Ammonia Phosphine Arsine Stibine Bismuthine

NH3 PH3 AsH3 SbH3 BiH3
Bond energy, 391 322 297 255 -
M-H(kJmol-1)
Boiling pt (oC) -33 -88 -58 -17 -
Melting pt (oC) -77 -133 -116.3 -88 -
d(M-H), Ao 1.008 1.4206 1.5192 1.7073 -
Bond angle 107.3 93.5 91.83 91.30 -
(HMH)degrees
Solubility in water
(V/V at 293 K)
739 0.26 0.20 0.20 -
Dipole moment(D) 1.44 0.55 0.15 - -
Decomposition to
elements (K)
775 on gentle 295 295 very
heating unstable
Odour pungent decaying fish garlic like - -
Reactivity:
1. Thermal stability decreases down the group. BiH3 decomposes at room temperature
2. Lewis base strength stability decreases.
3. Acid strength increases.

Bond energy:
Bond energy of the M-H bond decreases down the group from NH3 to BiH3 because of
the increase in the size of the elements on descending the group. Consequently, the
stability of the hydrides decreases from NH3 to BiH3; bismuth hydride decomposes quite
rapidly at room temperature.
N-H is stronger than the rest because N&H sizes are comparable and also the addition of
hydrogen bonding in NH3.

Boiling points:
The boiling point of NH3 is large then it drops for PH3 and again increases systematically
down the group to BiH3. Ammonia (NH3) has high boiling point not as expected because
of the hydrogen bond.

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 H H H
H N-----------H N-----------H N
H H H
hydrogen bond

The increasing trend seen for other hydrides is due to the association of condensed phases
in which the discrete molecules are held together by the Van der Waals forces which
increase with increase of the atomic size down the group.

Structure of the trihydrides - MH3.

They have Pyramidal structure with sp3 hybridization in which angle <HMH should be
109o.
.. .. ..
M N As
o o
H H H107 H H 92 H
H H H
For nitrogen the angle is 107o due to strong repulsion between the lone pair and the bond
pair. For the other hydrides the distance between lone pair and bond pair is much greater
because of the size of the central atom ‘M’ (M= P, As, Sb) and hence weaker repulsion.
So we expect the angle to be much closer to 107o but they are close to 90o which are
more of p-orbitals than sp3 hybrid orbitals.

Lewis basic character.

The Lewis base character decreases down the group. This is due to the presence of d-
orbitals in P, As, & Sb which allows delocalization of electrons. Electrons are diffused
into the empty d-orbitals hence are not easily lost.
In the case of NH3, there is no empty d-orbitals so no loss of electrons takes place
through delocalization hence the lone pair can easily be lost.

Solubility in water
NH3 is soluble in water, its large solubility suggests that hydrogen bonding also exists in
this mixture in the liquid phase.PH3 is slightly soluble unlike NH3 because it is practically
non-polar since the electronegativity of phosphorus is about the same as that of hydrogen.
Hence, no hydrogen bonding like that found in NH3.
The ammonia solution in water is generally called ammonium hydroxide. This name is,
however misleading and the solution should better be called ‘aqueous ammonia’. The
solution has NH3(aq), NH4+(aq) and OH-(aq) ions:
NH3(aq) + H2O NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq)

HALIDES

Elements of Group V mainly form two types of halides: MX3 and MX5, known as
trihalides and pentahalides respectively. Where X=F, Cl, Br, & I

7
 Trihalides (MX3)
Nitrogen
Is restricted to MX3 only i.e., NF3, NCl3, NBr3, NI3. Of all nitrogen halides, only NF3 is
stable due to strong N-F bonds. All other trihalides of nitrogen, NCl3, NBr3 and NI3 are
unstable. Of these, NCl3 is explosive.

Comparison between NF3 and NCl3

NF3 (covalent NCl3 (covalent)

1. Thermally stable 1. Less stable
2. None explosive 2. Explodes about its [Link] or by an impact.
3. Not hydrolyzed by water 3. Hydrolyzable.
4. N-F bond = 272 kJmol-1 4. N-Cl bond = 193 kJmol-1

Why is NF3 inert whereas NCl3 explosive?

• The N-F bond is much stronger than the N-Cl bond. The strength of N-F bond is
caused by the maximum overlapping of the elements due to their comparable size.
While N-Cl bond is not stronger because of small size of N and large size of Cl.
• The lone pair moment and the bond pair moment are both acting in the same
direction in NF3 molecule, due to the high electronegativity of fluorine which
attracts electrons towards itself. This makes the Lewis base character of NF3 to be
low.

.. lone pair
AN
o
37
1.
102o
F F bond pair
moments
F

• There are no vacant orbitals in nitrogen so there is no back donation of electrons

when it combines with other elements.
• The presence of d-orbitals in chlorine, diffuses the electron cloud and thus makes
N-Cl bond weak hence more reactive.

Properties of MX3:

1. Hydrolysis reaction:
Except NX3, all the trihalides hydrolyze rapidly to either hydrated oxides, e.g.,
As2O3.nH2O or acids, H3PO3 or oxochloride, SbOCl and BiOCl.
NCl3 on hydrolysis gives NH3 and HOCl instead of HNO2 (nitrous acid) and HCl.
NCl3 + 3H2O NH3 + 3HOCl
PCl3 + 3H2O H3PO3 + 3HCl
SbCl3 + H2O SbOCl + 2HCl
BiCl3 + H2O BiOCl + 2HCl
Attack of water molecule on nitrogen is impossible because of non-availability of
d-orbitals. NCl3, therefore hydrolyses by a different mechanism, which involves the

8
 attack of the Lewis base, water on the partially positive chlorine to give HOCl and
NH3 molecule.
2. Lewis character:
The trihalides, except NX3, act as Lewis acids, i.e. electron pair acceptors, forming
haloanions, SbCl4-, BiCl4-, etc. The trihalides can be oxidized to pentahalides. The
ease of oxidation decreases from PX3 to BiX3. However, NX3 is not oxidized at all.
3. Structure:
Trihalides of the lighter elements of the group are predominantly covalent in nature,
therefore, they can exist as discrete molecules which have a pyramidal structure, like
NH3. The trihalides of heavier elements, e.g., BiF3 are ionic in nature.

Pentahalides (MX5)
Nitrogen does not form any pentahalides (MX5) [due to restriction of the octet].
The stability of other pentahalides of the group decreases in the order P>Sb>As>Bi and
in the order F>Cl>Br for halogens.PF5, PCl5, PBr5, AsF5, SbF5, SbCl5 and BiF5 are stable.
i.e.
Phosphorus- forms PF5, PCl5 and PBr5 except iodine, i.e. PI5 does not exist.
The mixed derivatives of halogen i.e. PF3Cl2, PCl4F, PClF4, and PF3Br2
have also been prepared.
As- forms AsF5 only
Sb- forms SbF5 and SbCl5
Bi- forms BiF5 only. However, PBr5 and SbCl5 readily lose halogens forming trihalides.
All the pentahalides have trigonal bipyramidal structure in the gas phase. However, their
structures differ in the solid state, e.g., PCl5 splits into [PCl4]+[PCl6]-. PBr5 splits to give
[PBr4]+Br-. Almost all pentahalides can accept an electron pair and act as Lewis acids, as
in PF6, PF5.L, etc.

OXIDES
Nitrogen
Nitrogen forms a number of oxides, N2O, NO, N2O3, NO2 N2O4 and N2O5, and also very
unstable NO3 and N2O6.
All the oxides of nitrogen exhibit p -p multiple bonding between nitrogen and oxygen.
This does not occur with the heavier elements of the group and consequently nitrogen
forms a number of oxides which have no P, As, Sb or Bi analogues.

Table 3: Oxides of nitrogen

Formula Name Colour Remarks
N2O Nitrous oxides Colourless Rather unreactive
NO Nitric oxide Colourless Moderately reactive
N2O3 Dinitrogen trioxide Dark blue Extensively dissociated as gas
NO2 Nitrogen dioxide Brown Moderately reactive
N2O4 Dinitrogen tetroxide Colourles Extensively dissociated to NO2 as gas and
partly as liquid
N2O5 Dinitrogen pentoxide Colourless Unstable as gas; ionic solid
NO3,N2O6 Not well characterized and quite unstable
N2O4 is in liquid state but easily decomposes to NO2.
N2O3 is a solid; the rest are gases.

9
Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony and Bismuth
P, As, and Sb form oxides in both +3 and +5 oxidation states whereas only one oxide of
bismuth, Bi2O3 is known.

M2O3 M2O5
P - P4O6 (Phosphorus oxide); P4O10 (Phosphorus pentoxide)
As -As2O3 Amphoteric As2O5
Sb - Sb2O3 Sb2O5 Are more acidic
Bi - Bi O2 3 basic Bi O than the M2O3
2 5

• As expected the basic character of oxides increases on descending the group. The
oxides of P and As (+5) are acidic those of Sb amphoteric and of Bi wholly basic.
Also the higher oxidation states are more acidic.
• The stability of higher oxidation states decreases on going down the group.
Except Bi2O3 others exist in dimeric form.

NITROGEN DERIVATIVES OF BORON

The atom pair B-N is isoelectronic with C2. Therefore compounds containing boron
bonded to nitrogen theoretically can exhibit the range of structure type encountered in
carbon chemistry.
Thus compounds containing tetra-, tri- and dicoordinate boron atoms attached to an
aminoid nitrogen are isoelectronic with the corresponding C2 system.
Although the BN analogues of the triple- bonded carbon system are not yet known, many
examples of the other two possibilities exist.

R R R R
.. ..
R B N R B N B ..N
..

R R or
R R
or
R R

B N B N

R R
R R R R
R C C R C C
C C
R R R R
Saturated
Unsaturated

10
 Boron Nitride (BN)x

Preparation:
Boron nitride (BN)x can be made by:-
1. The action of NH3 on boron at 1000oC or by
2. Passing nitrogen over a mixture of B2O3 and carbon at a slightly higher temperature or
3. by heating borax (Na2B4O7.10H2O) with AlCl3.

Boron Nitride Vs Graphite.

The common form of BN, obtained by heating the products of any of the above reactions
at 1800oC, exhibit a layer-type structure reminiscent of graphite. Each layer consists of
hexagonal arrangement of alternating boron and nitrogen atoms similar to the hexagonal
arrangement of carbon atoms in the graphite structure.

1.45Ao 1.45Ao
B N C C

N B N 1st layer C C C

B N B C C B

N B N C C C

B N B C C C

B N C C

3.30Ao 3.35Ao

B N C C

N B N C C C

B N B C C C

N B N 2nd layer C C C

B N B C C C

B N C C

Boron Nitride Graphite

• Boron atoms in one layer of BN structure are above the nitrogen atoms of the next
layer. Whereas in graphite, the carbon atoms are above the carbon atoms.
• B-N distance is1.446 1.45Ao which is shorter than expected for a single bond
between these atoms (1.54Ao). Indicative of bonding involving the lone pair of
electrons on the nitrogen and the empty boron p-orbital. The C-C distance in
graphite is 1.45Ao also indicative of bonding.

11
 • The interlayer distance (Van der Waals) between the layers in both BN and
graphite is 3.3Ao.
• Both BN and graphite are good lubricant
• Both BN and graphite form intercalation compounds.
• BN is white and an insulator whereas graphite is a good conductor.

Boron Nitride Vs Diamond.

When Boron nitride (BN)x is heated at 1500-2000oC and 50,000 atmospheric pressure in
the presence of Li or Mg3N2 as a catalyst, it is transformed into a more dense structure
similar to that of diamond with alternative atoms replaced by boron and nitrogen.

N B N C C C

B N B C C C

N B N C C C

Boron nitride Diamond

• B-N bond length is 1.57Ao while C-C bond length is 1.54Ao.

• Both are hard
• In general BN exhibits many of the properties of diamond.

Boron nitride (i.e., Borazine) Vs Benzene.

When H3NBH3 is heated it yields B3N3H6 (Borazine) which is regarded as the
analogue of Benzene.

H H H H
N N C C
+ +
HB- - BH HB- -BH HC CH HC CH

HN+ +NH HN+ +NH HC CH HC CH

- -
B B C C
H H H H
borazine benzene
Borazine has a regular plane hexagonal ring structure. The B-N bond distance of 1.44Ao
in borazine molecule is less than the sum of single-bond covalent radii of B and N. This
indicates the presence of bonding involving the lone pair of electrons on nitrogen and
an empty p orbital on boron. However, these electrons are only partially delocalized
due to the difference in the energy of the orbitals of B and N.
Borazine has many physical properties closely similar to those of isoelectronic benzene.

12
 Table 4: Comparison of physical properties of borazine and benzene.
Property Borazine (B3N3H6) Benzene (C6H6)
Molecular weight 80.5 78.1
Melting point (K) 216 279
Boiling point (oC) 55 55
-3
Density (gm ) 0.81 0.81

Although the borazine ring has many similarities to the isoelectronic benzene ring, the
reactions of the two systems are markedly different. Borazine is more reactive than
benzene. E.g.
• Borazine undergoes addition reactions which proceed by nucleophilic attack
(molecules containing acidic hydrogen atoms such as water, hydrogen halides,
methanol & carboxylic acids) on boron atom to give borazanes. This suggests that
actual sign of the net charges on B and N atoms in Borazine should be opposite to
that indicated in the figures above. And this can be explained by the existence of
considerable polarity in the B-N bond (electronegativity for B is 2.0 and N is
3.05) in a direction opposite to that in the B-N bond. Infact the drift in electron
density in B-N bond outweighs the drift in electron density in the B-N bond so
that nitrogen atom are relatively negative.
Benzene and its derivatives on the other hand do not undergo such addition
reactions readily.
• Borazines undergo substitution reactions primarily at boron sites.
• Hydrogen atoms at the boron sites in borazines are reducing agents. Such
hydrogens are hydridic (H-) in nature.

USES

Uses of elements
Nitrogen:
• The main use of nitrogen is to create an inert atmosphere in the iron and the steel
industry and in many other metallurgical and chemical processes where the
presence of air would involve fire, explosion hazards or undesirable oxidation
products.
• It is also used in the packaging of processed foods and pharmaceuticals and to
pressurize electric cables, telephone wires and rubber tyres, etc.
• Liquid nitrogen is also frequently used for freezing of foodstuffs, freeze grinding
of normally soft and rubbery materials like meat, preservation of biological
specimens and for in-transit refrigeration.

Phosphorus:
• Red phosphorus is used in matches, fireworks and as a component of phosphor-
bronze alloys used for making bearing.

Arsenic, antimony and bismuth:

• Mainly used in the production of various alloys.

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 Uses of compounds

Nitrogen compounds:
• Ammonia (NH3) is used in various forms as a fertilizer, e.g., as NH4NO3,
(NH4)SO4, (NH4)2HPO4, etc. Its applications also include refrigeration, as a pH
controller in food and beverage industry, pharmaceuticals and water purification.
• Nitric acid (HNO3) is used in the manufacture of NH4NO3, explosives like
nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose and TNT.
• Hydrazine (N2H4) and its methyl derivatives (MeNHNH2 and Me2NNH2) are used
as rocket fuels
• Nitrous oxide (N2O) is used as an anaesthetic.

Phosphorus compounds:
• Sulphides of phosphorus, P4S3 and P4S10 are used in match industry.
• Phosphoric acid is used in fertilizers, cleaning of metals, rust proofing,
pharmaceuticals, etc.
• Disodium hydrogen phosphate, Na2HPO4 is used as an emulsifier in the
manufacture of pasteurized cheese and also is used as a constituent in the
undercoat for metal painting.
• Calcium phosphates are used in baking powders and tooth pastes.
• Synthetic Ca5(PO4)3OH (1-2%) is added to table salt to impart free flowing
properties.
• Sodium tripolyphosphate, Na5P3O10, is used in detergents and in softening water.
• Phosphorus compounds like malathion, parathion, etc., are used as pesticides.

Arsenic compounds:
• Find extensive use in agriculture as herbicides for weed and pest control, e.g.,
monosodium methyl arsenate, MSMA and disodium methyl arsenate, DSMA.
• Arsenic acid is used as a wood preservative.
• Sodium arsenate is used for aquatic weed control
• Arsenic oxide, As2O5 is used to decolourise bottle glass.

Antimony compounds:
• Antimonial lead, is used in storage batteries.
• Compound of antimony with Al (AlSb), Ga (GaSb) and In (InSb), find
applications in infrared devices and in diodes.

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