Ammonium

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Ammonium
Ammonium-2D.svg
Ammonium-3D-balls.png
Ammonium-3D-vdW.png
Names
IUPAC name
Ammonium ion
Systematic IUPAC name
Azanium [1]
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChemSpider
MeSH D000644
PubChem CID
UNII
  • InChI=1S/H3N/h1H3/p+1
    Key: QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-UHFFFAOYSA-O
  • InChI=1/H3N/h1H3/p+1
    Key: QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-IKLDFBCSAZ
  • [NH4+]
Properties
[NH4]+
Molar mass 18.039 g·mol−1
Acidity (pKa)9.25
Conjugate base Ammonia
Structure
Tetrahedral
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

The ammonium cation is a positively-charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula NH+4 or [NH4]+. It is formed by the protonation of ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is also a general name for positively charged or protonated substituted amines and quaternary ammonium cations ([NR4]+), where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic groups (indicated by R).

Contents

Acid–base properties

Fumes from hydrochloric acid and ammonia forming a white cloud of ammonium chloride Hydrochloric acid ammonia.jpg
Fumes from hydrochloric acid and ammonia forming a white cloud of ammonium chloride

The ammonium ion is generated when ammonia, a weak base, reacts with Brønsted acids (proton donors):

The ammonium ion is mildly acidic, reacting with Brønsted bases to return to the uncharged ammonia molecule:

Thus, the treatment of concentrated solutions of ammonium salts with a strong base gives ammonia. When ammonia is dissolved in water, a tiny amount of it converts to ammonium ions:

The degree to which ammonia forms the ammonium ion depends on the pH of the solution. If the pH is low, the equilibrium shifts to the right: more ammonia molecules are converted into ammonium ions. If the pH is high (the concentration of hydrogen ions is low and hydroxide ions is high), the equilibrium shifts to the left: the hydroxide ion abstracts a proton from the ammonium ion, generating ammonia.

Formation of ammonium compounds can also occur in the vapor phase; for example, when ammonia vapor comes in contact with hydrogen chloride vapor, a white cloud of ammonium chloride forms, which eventually settles out as a solid in a thin white layer on surfaces.

Salts

Formation of ammonium Bildung Ammonium.svg
Formation of ammonium

Ammonium cation is found in a variety of salts such as ammonium carbonate, ammonium chloride, and ammonium nitrate. Most simple ammonium salts are very soluble in water. An exception is ammonium hexachloroplatinate, the formation of which was once used as a test for ammonium. The ammonium salts of nitrate and especially perchlorate are highly explosive, in these cases, ammonium is the reducing agent.

In an unusual process, ammonium ions form an amalgam. Such species are prepared by the addition of sodium amalgam to a solution of ammonium chloride. [2] This amalgam eventually decomposes to release ammonia and hydrogen. [3]

To find whether the ammonium ion is present in the salt, first, the salt is heated in presence of alkali hydroxide releasing a gas with a characteristic smell which of course is ammonia.

To further confirm ammonia it passed through a glass rod dipped in an HCl solution (hydrochloric acid) creating white dense fumes of ammonium chloride.

Ammonia when passed through CuSO4 (copper(II) sulfate) solution turns from blue to deep blue color forming Schweizer's reagent.

Ammonia or ammonium ion when added to Nessler's reagent gives a brown color precipitate known as the iodide of Million's base in basic medium.

Ammonium ion when added to chloroplatinic acid gives a yellow precipitate.

Ammonium ion when added to sodium cobaltinitrite gives a yellow precipitate.

Ammonium ion gives a white precipitate when added to potassium bitartrate.

Structure and bonding

The lone electron pair on the nitrogen atom (N) in ammonia, represented as a line above the N, forms the bond with a proton (H+). After that, all four N–H bonds are equivalent, being polar covalent bonds. The ion has a tetrahedral structure and is isoelectronic with methane and the borohydride anion. In terms of size, the ammonium cation (rionic = 175 pm)[ citation needed ] resembles the caesium cation (rionic = 183 pm).[ citation needed ]

Organic ions

The hydrogen atoms in the ammonium ion can be substituted with an alkyl group or some other organic group to form a substituted ammonium ion (IUPAC nomenclature: aminium ion). Depending on the number of organic groups, the ammonium cation is called a primary, secondary, tertiary, or quaternary. Except the quaternary ammonium cations, the organic ammonium cations are weak acids.

An example of a reaction forming an ammonium ion is that between dimethylamine, (CH3)2NH, and an acid to give the dimethylammonium cation, [(CH3)2NH2]+:

Dimethylammonium-formation-2D.png

Quaternary ammonium cations have four organic groups attached to the nitrogen atom, they lack a hydrogen atom bonded to the nitrogen atom. These cations, such as the tetra-n-butylammonium cation, are sometimes used to replace sodium or potassium ions to increase the solubility of the associated anion in organic solvents. Primary, secondary, and tertiary ammonium salts serve the same function but are less lipophilic. They are also used as phase-transfer catalysts and surfactants.

An unusual class of organic ammonium salts is derivatives of amine radical cations, [R3N•]+ such as tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate.

Biology

Ammonium ions are a waste product of the metabolism of animals. In fish and aquatic invertebrates, it is excreted directly into the water. In mammals, sharks, and amphibians, it is converted in the urea cycle to urea, because urea is less toxic and can be stored more efficiently. In birds, reptiles, and terrestrial snails, metabolic ammonium is converted into uric acid, which is solid and can therefore be excreted with minimal water loss. [4]

Ammonium is an important source of nitrogen for many plant species, especially those growing on hypoxic soils. However, it is also toxic to most crop species and is rarely applied as a sole nitrogen source. [5]

Metal

The ammonium ion has very similar properties to the heavier alkali metals cations and is often considered a close equivalent. [6] [7] [8] Ammonium is expected to behave as a metal ([NH4]+ ions in a sea of electrons) at very high pressures, such as inside giant gas planets such as Uranus and Neptune. [7] [8]

Under normal conditions, ammonium does not exist as a pure metal but does as an amalgam (alloy with mercury). [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acid</span> Chemical compound giving a proton or accepting an electron pair

An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen ion, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid.

In chemistry, amines are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia, wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent such as an alkyl or aryl group. Important amines include amino acids, biogenic amines, trimethylamine, and aniline. Inorganic derivatives of ammonia are also called amines, such as monochloramine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acid–base reaction</span> Chemical reaction

An acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base. It can be used to determine pH via titration. Several theoretical frameworks provide alternative conceptions of the reaction mechanisms and their application in solving related problems; these are called the acid–base theories, for example, Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory.

In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.

A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid donates a proton to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as in the reverse reaction it loses a hydrogen ion. On the other hand, a conjugate base is what is left over after an acid has donated a proton during a chemical reaction. Hence, a conjugate base is a species formed by the removal of a proton from an acid, as in the reverse reaction it is able to gain a hydrogen ion. Because some acids are capable of releasing multiple protons, the conjugate base of an acid may itself be acidic.

Solubility equilibrium is a type of dynamic equilibrium that exists when a chemical compound in the solid state is in chemical equilibrium with a solution of that compound. The solid may dissolve unchanged, with dissociation, or with chemical reaction with another constituent of the solution, such as acid or alkali. Each solubility equilibrium is characterized by a temperature-dependent solubility product which functions like an equilibrium constant. Solubility equilibria are important in pharmaceutical, environmental and many other scenarios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Base (chemistry)</span> Type of chemical substance

In chemistry, there are three definitions in common use of the word base, known as Arrhenius bases, Brønsted bases, and Lewis bases. All definitions agree that bases are substances that react with acids, as originally proposed by G.-F. Rouelle in the mid-18th century.

In chemistry, an amphoteric compound is a molecule or ion that can react both as an acid and as a base. What exactly this can mean depends on which definitions of acids and bases are being used.

The Brønsted–Lowry theory (also called proton theory of acids and bases) is an acid–base reaction theory which was proposed independently by Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Thomas Martin Lowry in 1923. The fundamental concept of this theory is that when an acid and a base react with each other, the acid forms its conjugate base, and the base forms its conjugate acid by exchange of a proton (the hydrogen cation, or H+). This theory is a generalization of the Arrhenius theory.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single displacement reaction</span> Type of chemical reaction

A single-displacement reaction, also known as single replacement reaction or exchange reaction, is a chemical reaction in which one element is replaced by another in a compound.

Acid salts are a class of salts that produce an acidic solution after being dissolved in a solvent. Its formation as a substance has a greater electrical conductivity than that of the pure solvent. An acidic solution formed by acid salt is made during partial neutralization of diprotic or polyprotic acids. A half-neutralization occurs due to the remaining of replaceable hydrogen atoms from the partial dissociation of weak acids that have not been reacted with hydroxide ions to create water molecules.

In chemical nomenclature, the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry is a systematic method of naming inorganic chemical compounds, as recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). It is published in Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry. Ideally, every inorganic compound should have a name from which an unambiguous formula can be determined. There is also an IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry.

An inorganic nonaqueous solvent is a solvent other than water, that is not an organic compound. These solvents are used in chemical research and industry for reactions that cannot occur in aqueous solutions or require a special environment. Inorganic nonaqueous solvents can be classified into two groups, protic solvents and aprotic solvents. Early studies on inorganic nonaqueous solvents evaluated ammonia, hydrogen fluoride, sulfuric acid, as well as more specialized solvents, hydrazine, and selenium oxychloride.

The chemical element nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and can form many compounds. It can take several oxidation states; but the most oxidation states are -3 and +3. Nitrogen can form nitride and nitrate ions. It also forms a part of nitric acid and nitrate salts. Nitrogen compounds also have an important role in organic chemistry, as nitrogen is part of proteins, amino acids and adenosine triphosphate.

In chemistry, an onium ion is a cation formally obtained by the protonation of mononuclear parent hydride of a pnictogen, chalcogen, or halogen. The oldest-known onium ion, and the namesake for the class, is ammonium, NH+4, the protonated derivative of ammonia, NH3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonium cyanide</span> Chemical compound

Ammonium cyanide is an unstable inorganic compound with the formula NH4CN.

Polysilazanes are polymers in which silicon and nitrogen atoms alternate to form the basic backbone. Since each silicon atom is bound to two separate nitrogen atoms and each nitrogen atom to two silicon atoms, both chains and rings of the formula occur. can be hydrogen atoms or organic substituents. If all substituents R are H atoms, the polymer is designated as Perhydropolysilazane, Polyperhydridosilazane, or Inorganic Polysilazane ([H2Si–NH]n). If hydrocarbon substituents are bound to the silicon atoms, the polymers are designated as Organopolysilazanes. Molecularly, polysilazanes are isoelectronic with and close relatives to Polysiloxanes (silicones).

Fulminating gold is a light- and shock-sensitive yellow to yellow-orange amorphous heterogeneous mixture of different polymeric compounds of predominantly gold (III), ammonia, and chlorine that cannot be described by a chemical formula. Here, the word fulminating has its oldest meaning, "explosive" ; the material contains no fulminate ions. The best approximate description is that it is the product of partial hydrolysis of . Upon combustion, it produces a purple vapor. The complex has a square planar molecular geometry with a low spin state. Generally, it is best to avoid accidentally creating this substance by mixing gold chloride or hydroxide salts with ammonia gas or ammonium salts, as it is prone to explosion with even the slightest touch.

Nickel compounds are chemical compounds containing the element nickel which is a member of the group 10 of the periodic table. Most compounds in the group have an oxidation state of +2. Nickel is classified as a transition metal with nickel(II) having much chemical behaviour in common with iron(II) and cobalt(II). Many salts of nickel(II) are isomorphous with salts of magnesium due to the ionic radii of the cations being almost the same. Nickel forms many coordination complexes. Nickel tetracarbonyl was the first pure metal carbonyl produced, and is unusual in its volatility. Metalloproteins containing nickel are found in biological systems.

References

  1. ↑ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2005). Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 2005). Cambridge (UK): RSC–IUPAC. ISBN   0-85404-438-8. pp. 71,105,314. Electronic version.
  2. ↑ "Pseudo-binary compounds". Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  3. ↑ "Ammonium Salts". VIAS Encyclopedia.
  4. ↑ Campbell, Neil A.; Jane B. Reece (2002). "44" . Biology (6th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc. pp.  937–938. ISBN   978-0-8053-6624-2.
  5. ↑ Britto, DT; Kronzucker, HJ (2002). "NH4+ toxicity in higher plants: a critical review" (PDF). Journal of Plant Physiology. 159 (6): 567–584. doi:10.1078/0176-1617-0774.
  6. ↑ Holleman, Arnold Frederik; Wiberg, Egon (2001), Wiberg, Nils (ed.), Inorganic Chemistry, translated by Eagleson, Mary; Brewer, William, San Diego/Berlin: Academic Press/De Gruyter, ISBN   0-12-352651-5
  7. 1 2 Stevenson, D. J. (November 20, 1975). "Does metallic ammonium exist?". Nature . 258 (5532): 222–223. Bibcode:1975Natur.258..222S. doi:10.1038/258222a0. S2CID   4199721.
  8. 1 2 Bernal, M. J. M.; Massey, H. S. W. (February 3, 1954). "Metallic Ammonium". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 114 (2): 172–179. Bibcode:1954MNRAS.114..172B. doi: 10.1093/mantras/114.2.172 .
  9. ↑ Reedy, J.H. (October 1, 1929). "Lecture demonstration of ammonium amalgam". Journal of Chemical Education. 6 (10): 1767. Bibcode:1929JChEd...6.1767R. doi:10.1021/ed006p1767.
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