Beryllium chloride

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Beryllium chloride
BeCl2polymer.png
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Names
IUPAC name
Beryllium chloride
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.029.197 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
PubChem CID
RTECS number
  • DS2625000
UNII
  • InChI=1S/Be.2ClH/h;2*1H/q+2;;/p-2 Yes check.svgY
    Key: LWBPNIJBHRISSS-UHFFFAOYSA-L Yes check.svgY
  • InChI=1/Be.2ClH/h;2*1H/q+2;;/p-2
    Key: LWBPNIJBHRISSS-NUQVWONBAX
  • ionic depiction:[Be+2].[Cl-].[Cl-]
  • covalent monomer:Cl[Be]Cl
  • polymer:Cl[Be-2](Cl)([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1([Cl+]1)[Cl+][Be-2]1(Cl)Cl
Properties
BeCl2
Molar mass 79.9182 g/mol
AppearanceWhite or yellow crystals
Density 1.899 g/cm3, solid
Melting point 399 °C (750 °F; 672 K)
Boiling point 482 °C (900 °F; 755 K)
15.1 g/100 mL (20 °C)
Solubility soluble in alcohol, ether, benzene, and pyridine
slightly soluble in chloroform and sulfur dioxide
Structure
hexagonal
polymer
Thermochemistry
7.808 J/K or 71.1 J/mol K
Std molar
entropy
(S298)
63 J/mol K
−6.136 kJ/g or -494 kJ/mol
-468 kJ/mol
16 kJ/mol
Hazards
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC):
86 mg/kg (rat, oral)
NIOSH (US health exposure limits):
PEL (Permissible)
TWA 0.002 mg/m3
C 0.005 mg/m3 (30 minutes), with a maximum peak of 0.025 mg/m3 (as Be) [1]
REL (Recommended)
Ca C 0.0005 mg/m3 (as Be) [1]
IDLH (Immediate danger)
Ca [4 mg/m3 (as Be)] [1]
Related compounds
Other anions
Beryllium fluoride
Beryllium bromide
Beryllium iodide
Other cations
Magnesium chloride
Calcium chloride
Strontium chloride
Barium chloride
Radium chloride
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Beryllium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula BeCl2. It is a colourless, hygroscopic solid that dissolves well in many polar solvents. Its properties are similar to those of aluminium chloride, due to beryllium's diagonal relationship with aluminium.

Contents

Structure and synthesis

Beryllium chloride is prepared by reaction of the metal with chlorine at high temperatures: [2]

Be + Cl2 → BeCl2

BeCl2 can also be prepared by carbothermal reduction of beryllium oxide in the presence of chlorine. [3] BeCl2 can be prepared by treating beryllium with hydrogen chloride.

Two forms (polymorphs) of BeCl2 are known. Both structures consist tetrahedral Be2+ centers interconnected by doubly bridging chloride ligands. One form consist of edge-sharing polytetrahedra. The other form resembles zinc iodide with interconnected adamantane-like cages. [4] In contrast, BeF2 is a 3-dimensional polymer, with a structure akin to that of quartz.

In the gas phase, BeCl2 exists both as a linear monomer and a bridged dimer with two bridging chlorine atoms where the beryllium atom is 3-coordinate. [5] The linear shape of the monomeric form is as predicted by VSEPR theory. The linear shape contrasts with the monomeric forms of some of the dihalides of the heavier members of group 2, e.g. CaF2, SrF2, BaF2, SrCl2, BaCl2, BaBr2, and BaI2, which are all non-linear. [5] Beryllium chloride dissolves to give tetrahedral [Be(OH2)4]2+ ion in aqueous solutions as confirmed by vibrational spectroscopy. [6]

Reactions

Beryllium chloride forms a tetrahydrate, BeCl2•4H2O ([Be(H2O)4]Cl2). BeCl2 is also soluble in some ethers. [7] [8]

Applications

Beryllium chloride is used as a raw material for the electrolysis of beryllium, and as a catalyst for Friedel-Crafts reactions.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron(III) chloride</span> Inorganic compound

Iron(III) chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula FeCl3. Also called ferric chloride, it is a common compound of iron in the +3 oxidation state. The anhydrous compound is a crystalline solid with a melting point of 307.6 °C. The color depends on the viewing angle: by reflected light the crystals appear dark green, but by transmitted light they appear purple-red.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zinc chloride</span> Chemical compound

Zinc chloride is the name of inorganic chemical compounds with the formula ZnCl2 and its hydrates. Zinc chlorides, of which nine crystalline forms are known, are colorless or white, and are highly soluble in water. This salt is hygroscopic and even deliquescent. Zinc chloride finds wide application in textile processing, metallurgical fluxes, and chemical synthesis. No mineral with this chemical composition is known aside from the very rare mineral simonkolleite, Zn5(OH)8Cl2·H2O.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barium chloride</span> Chemical compound

Barium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula BaCl2. It is one of the most common water-soluble salts of barium. Like most other water-soluble barium salts, it is white, highly toxic, and imparts a yellow-green coloration to a flame. It is also hygroscopic, converting first to the dihydrate BaCl2(H2O)2. It has limited use in the laboratory and industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver chloride</span> Chemical compound with the formula AgCl

Silver chloride is a chemical compound with the chemical formula AgCl. This white crystalline solid is well known for its low solubility in water (this behavior being reminiscent of the chlorides of Tl+ and Pb2+). Upon illumination or heating, silver chloride converts to silver (and chlorine), which is signaled by grey to black or purplish coloration to some samples. AgCl occurs naturally as a mineral chlorargyrite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen bromide</span> Chemical compound

Hydrogen bromide is the inorganic compound with the formula HBr. It is a hydrogen halide consisting of hydrogen and bromine. A colorless gas, it dissolves in water, forming hydrobromic acid, which is saturated at 68.85% HBr by weight at room temperature. Aqueous solutions that are 47.6% HBr by mass form a constant-boiling azeotrope mixture that boils at 124.3 °C. Boiling less concentrated solutions releases H2O until the constant-boiling mixture composition is reached.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium chloride</span> Chemical compound

Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula AlCl3. It forms hexahydrate with the formula [Al(H2O)6]Cl3, containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often contaminated with iron(III) chloride, giving a yellow color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strontium chloride</span> Chemical compound

Strontium chloride (SrCl2) is a salt of strontium and chlorine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper(I) chloride</span> Chemical compound

Copper(I) chloride, commonly called cuprous chloride, is the lower chloride of copper, with the formula CuCl. The substance is a white solid sparingly soluble in water, but very soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid. Impure samples appear green due to the presence of copper(II) chloride (CuCl2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper(II) chloride</span> Chemical compound

Copper(II) chloride is the chemical compound with the chemical formula CuCl2. The anhydrous form is yellowish brown but slowly absorbs moisture to form a blue-green dihydrate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryllium oxide</span> Chemical compound

Beryllium oxide (BeO), also known as beryllia, is an inorganic compound with the formula BeO. This colourless solid is a notable electrical insulator with a higher thermal conductivity than any other non-metal except diamond, and exceeds that of most metals. As an amorphous solid, beryllium oxide is white. Its high melting point leads to its use as a refractory material. It occurs in nature as the mineral bromellite. Historically and in materials science, beryllium oxide was called glucina or glucinium oxide, owing to its sweet taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tantalum(V) chloride</span> Chemical compound

Tantalum(V) chloride, also known as tantalum pentachloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula TaCl5. It takes the form of a white powder and is commonly used as a starting material in tantalum chemistry. It readily hydrolyzes to form tantalum(V) oxychloride (TaOCl3) and eventually tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5); this requires that it be synthesised and manipulated under anhydrous conditions, using air-free techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper(I) bromide</span> Chemical compound

Copper(I) bromide is the chemical compound with the formula CuBr. This diamagnetic solid adopts a polymeric structure akin to that for zinc sulfide. The compound is widely used in the synthesis of organic compounds and as a lasing medium in copper bromide lasers.

The thallium halides include monohalides, where thallium has oxidation state +1, trihalides in which thallium generally has oxidation state +3, and some intermediate halides containing thallium with mixed +1 and +3 oxidation states. These materials find use in specialized optical settings, such as focusing elements in research spectrophotometers. Compared to the more common zinc selenide-based optics, materials such as thallium bromoiodide enable transmission at longer wavelengths. In the infrared, this allows for measurements as low as 350 cm−1 (28 μm), whereas zinc selenide is opaque by 21.5 μm, and ZnSe optics are generally only usable to 650 cm−1 (15 μm).

There are three sets of Indium halides, the trihalides, the monohalides, and several intermediate halides. In the monohalides the oxidation state of indium is +1 and their proper names are indium(I) fluoride, indium(I) chloride, indium(I) bromide and indium(I) iodide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryllium bromide</span> Chemical compound

Beryllium bromide is the chemical compound with the formula BeBr2. It is very hygroscopic and dissolves well in water. The compound is a polymer with tetrahedral coordinated Be centres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryllium iodide</span> Chemical compound

Beryllium iodide is the inorganic compound with the formula BeI2. It is a hygroscopic white solid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryllium hydride</span> Chemical compound

Beryllium hydride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula n. This alkaline earth hydride is a colourless solid that is insoluble in solvents that do not decompose it. Unlike the ionically bonded hydrides of the heavier Group 2 elements, beryllium hydride is covalently bonded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryllium sulfate</span> Chemical compound

Beryllium sulfate normally encountered as the tetrahydrate, [Be(H2O)4]SO4 is a white crystalline solid. It was first isolated in 1815 by Jons Jakob Berzelius. Beryllium sulfate may be prepared by treating an aqueous solution of many beryllium salts with sulfuric acid, followed by evaporation of the solution and crystallization. The hydrated product may be converted to anhydrous salt by heating at 400 °C.

Polysilicon halides are silicon-backbone polymeric solids. At room temperature, the polysilicon fluorides are colorless to yellow solids while the chlorides, bromides, and iodides are, respectively, yellow, amber, and red-orange. Polysilicon dihalides (perhalo-polysilenes) have the general formula (SiX2)n while the polysilicon monohalides (perhalo-polysilynes) have the formula (SiX)n, where X is F, Cl, Br, or I and n is the number of monomer units in the polymer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metal halides</span>

Metal halides are compounds between metals and halogens. Some, such as sodium chloride are ionic, while others are covalently bonded. A few metal halides are discrete molecules, such as uranium hexafluoride, but most adopt polymeric structures, such as palladium chloride.

References

  1. 1 2 3 NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. "#0054". National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
  2. Irving R. Tannenbaum "Beryllium Chloride" Inorganic Syntheses, 1957, vol. 5, p. 22. doi : 10.1002/9780470132364.ch7
  3. Cotton, F. A.; Wilkinson, G. (1980) Advanced Inorganic Chemistry John Wiley and Sons, Inc: New York, ISBN   0-471-02775-8.
  4. Troyanov, S.I. (2000). "Crystal Modifications of Beryllium Dihalides BeCl2, BeBr2 and BeI2". Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii. 45: 1619-1624.
  5. 1 2 Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN   978-0-08-037941-8.
  6. Rudolph, Wolfram W.; Fischer, Dieter; Irmer, Gert; Pye, Cory C. (2009). "Hydration of Beryllium(II) in Aqueous Solutions of Common Inorganic Salts. A Combined Vibrational Spectroscopic and ab initio Molecular Orbital Study". Dalton Transactions (33): 6513–6527. doi:10.1039/B902481F. PMID   19672497.
  7. Lide, David R., ed. (2006). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (87th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN   0-8493-0487-3.
  8. Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. (2001) Inorganic Chemistry Academic Press: San Diego, ISBN   0-12-352651-5