What inspired N. Bartlett for carrying out the reaction between Xe and PtF6?
Neil Bartlett first performed an experiment in which reaction between oxygen and PtF6 was carried out which lead to the formation of a red coloured compound O2+[PtF6]-.
He observed that the first ionization energy of Oxygen and Xenon is almost same (~1170 kJ/mol). So, he tried to react Xe and PtF6 in which he was successful to obtain a red coloured compound Xe+[PtF6]-.