Plutonium oxychloride is an inorganic compound of plutonium, oxygen, and chlorine with the chemical formula .
It is produced in a reaction of plutonium(III) oxide with calcium chloride:
It is also formed in trace quantities in the reaction between plutonium trichloride and calcium oxide, which mainly produces plutonium monoxide:
The compound is also synthesized by heating in a sealed tube, or by treating or at 650 ðC with a vapour mixture prepared via bubbling through aqueous HCl.
Plutonium oxychloride appears as a green or blue-green crystals (space group P4/nmm) that are insoluble in water but dissolve in dilute acidic solutions. X-ray diffraction analysis of PuOCl reveals a tetragonal crystal structure, with two molecules present in each unit cell.
PuOCl reacts with calcium (dissolved in liquid calcium chloride) or high-temperature barium vapour to form plutonium monoxide.