What is a single displacement reaction which isolates oxygen from hydrogen in water?

Question

Hi everyone, I was just wondering whether anyone knew about a single displacement reaction which would isolate oxygen from hydrogen in a water molecule. My thought was that this would occur if water was mixed with fluorine, but I had no evidence to support my theory. The reaction would have to be safe for close proximity to someones face. Thanks in advance,

Felix

Answer 1

Yeah, I think fluorine is the only element that will displace oxygen from water.  Look at an electronegativity chart: fluorine is the highest, followed by oxygen.  Also look at reduction potentials for the two elements.

And obviously, fluorine gas is extremely dangerous, and the other product of the reaction with water, HF, is also very nasty.

There are some compounds that release oxygen when water is added: alkali metal superoxides react with water to form oxygen gas, but do not displace it from the water.

They will produce a very basic solution, and the bubbles of oxygen will aerosolize some of the solution, so it is highly recommended to pass the gas though a water bubbler prior to breathing it in.

These compounds are unfortunately hard to obtain and very expensive...