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Names | |
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Preferred IUPAC name Lithium chloride | |
Systematic IUPAC name Lithium(1+) chloride | |
Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) | |
ChEBI | |
ChEMBL | |
ChemSpider | |
ECHA InfoCard | 100.028.375 |
EC Number |
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MeSH | Lithium+chloride |
PubChem CID | |
RTECS number |
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UNII | |
UN number | 2056 |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |
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Properties | |
LiCl | |
Molar mass | 42.39 g·mol−1 |
Appearance | white solid hygroscopic, sharp |
Density | 2.068 g/cm3 |
Melting point | 605–614 °C (1,121–1,137 °F; 878–887 K) |
Boiling point | 1,382 °C (2,520 °F; 1,655 K) |
68.29 g/100 mL (0 °C) 74.48 g/100 mL (10 °C) 84.25 g/100 mL (25 °C) 88.7 g/100 mL (40 °C) 123.44 g/100 mL (100 °C) [1] | |
Solubility | soluble in hydrazine, methylformamide, butanol, selenium(IV) oxychloride, 1-propanol [1] |
Solubility in methanol | 45.2 g/100 g (0 °C) 43.8 g/100 g (20 °C) 42.36 g/100 g (25 °C) [2] 44.6 g/100 g (60 °C) [1] |
Solubility in ethanol | 14.42 g/100 g (0 °C) 24.28 g/100 g (20 °C) 25.1 g/100 g (30 °C) 23.46 g/100 g (60 °C) [2] |
Solubility in formic acid | 26.6 g/100 g (18 °C) 27.5 g/100 g (25 °C) [1] |
Solubility in acetone | 1.2 g/100 g (20 °C) 0.83 g/100 g (25 °C) 0.61 g/100 g (50 °C) [1] |
Solubility in liquid ammonia | 0.54 g/100 g (-34 °C) [1] 3.02 g/100 g (25 °C) |
Vapor pressure | 1 torr (785 °C) 10 torr (934 °C) 100 torr (1130 °C) [1] |
−24.3·10−6 cm3/mol | |
Refractive index (nD) | 1.662 (24 °C) |
Viscosity | 0.87 cP (807 °C) [1] |
Structure | |
Octahedral | |
Linear (gas) | |
7.13 D (gas) | |
Thermochemistry | |
Heat capacity (C) | 48.03 J/mol·K [1] |
Std molar entropy (S⦵298) | 59.31 J/mol·K [1] |
Std enthalpy of formation (ΔfH⦵298) | -408.27 kJ/mol [1] |
Gibbs free energy (ΔfG⦵) | -384 kJ/mol [1] |
Hazards | |
GHS labelling: | |
[3] | |
Warning | |
H302, H315, H319, H335 [3] | |
P261, P305+P351+P338 [3] | |
NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | |
Flash point | Non-flammable |
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC): | |
LD50 (median dose) | 526 mg/kg (oral, rat) [4] |
Safety data sheet (SDS) | ICSC 0711 |
Related compounds | |
Other anions | Lithium fluoride Lithium bromide Lithium iodide Lithium astatide |
Other cations | Sodium chloride Potassium chloride Rubidium chloride Caesium chloride Francium chloride |
Supplementary data page | |
Lithium chloride (data page) | |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). |
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlorides, such as extraordinary solubility in polar solvents (83.05 g/100 mL of water at 20 °C) and its hygroscopic properties. [5]
The salt forms crystalline hydrates, unlike the other alkali metal chlorides. [6] Mono-, tri-, and pentahydrates are known. [7] The anhydrous salt can be regenerated by heating the hydrates. LiCl also absorbs up to four equivalents of ammonia/mol. As with any other ionic chloride, solutions of lithium chloride can serve as a source of chloride ion, e.g., forming a precipitate upon treatment with silver nitrate:
Lithium chloride is produced by treatment of lithium carbonate with hydrochloric acid. [5] Anhydrous LiCl is prepared from the hydrate by heating in a stream of hydrogen chloride.
Lithium chloride is mainly used for the production of lithium metal by electrolysis of a LiCl/KCl melt at 450 °C (842 °F). LiCl is also used as a brazing flux for aluminium in automobile parts. It is used as a desiccant for drying air streams. [5] In more specialized applications, lithium chloride finds some use in organic synthesis, e.g., as an additive in the Stille reaction. Also, in biochemical applications, it can be used to precipitate RNA from cellular extracts. [8]
Lithium chloride is also used as a flame colorant to produce dark red flames.
Lithium chloride is used as a relative humidity standard in the calibration of hygrometers. At 25 °C (77 °F) a saturated solution (45.8%) of the salt will yield an equilibrium relative humidity of 11.30%. Additionally, lithium chloride can be used as a hygrometer. This deliquescent salt forms a self-solution when exposed to air. The equilibrium LiCl concentration in the resulting solution is directly related to the relative humidity of the air. The percent relative humidity at 25 °C (77 °F) can be estimated, with minimal error in the range 10–30 °C (50–86 °F), from the following first-order equation: RH=107.93-2.11C, where C is solution LiCl concentration, percent by mass.
Molten LiCl is used for the preparation of carbon nanotubes, [9] graphene [10] and lithium niobate. [11]
Lithium chloride has been shown to have strong acaricidal properties, being effective against Varroa destructor in populations of honey bees. [12]
Lithium chloride is used as an aversive agent in lab animals to study conditioned place preference and aversion.
Lithium salts affect the central nervous system in a variety of ways. While the citrate, carbonate, and orotate salts are currently used to treat bipolar disorder, other lithium salts including the chloride were used in the past. For a short time in the 1940s lithium chloride was manufactured as a salt substitute for people with hypertension, but this was prohibited after the toxic effects of the compound (tremors, fatigue, nausea) were recognized. [13] [14] [15] It was, however, noted by J. H. Talbott that many symptoms attributed to lithium chloride toxicity may have also been attributable to sodium chloride deficiency, to the diuretics often administered to patients who were given lithium chloride, or to the patients' underlying conditions. [13]
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.
An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon dissolving, the substance separates into cations and anions, which disperse uniformly throughout the solvent. Solid-state electrolytes also exist. In medicine and sometimes in chemistry, the term electrolyte refers to the substance that is dissolved.
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula AgNO
3. It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called lunar caustic because silver was called luna by ancient alchemists who associated silver with the moon. In solid silver nitrate, the silver ions are three-coordinated in a trigonal planar arrangement.
In chemistry, a halide is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, astatide, or theoretically tennesside compound. The alkali metals combine directly with halogens under appropriate conditions forming halides of the general formula, MX. Many salts are halides; the hal- syllable in halide and halite reflects this correlation. All Group 1 metals form halides that are white solids at room temperature.
In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a supersaturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading to precipitation, the chemical reagent causing the solid to form is called the precipitant.
Dinitrogen pentoxide is the chemical compound with the formula N2O5. It is one of the binary nitrogen oxides, a family of compounds that only contain nitrogen and oxygen. It exists as colourless crystals that sublime slightly above room temperature, yielding a colorless gas.
Zinc chloride is the name of inorganic chemical compounds with the formula ZnCl2. It forms hydrates. Zinc chloride, anhydrous and its hydrates are colorless or white crystalline solids, and are highly soluble in water. Five hydrates of zinc chloride are known, as well as four forms of anhydrous zinc chloride. 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.
Lithium nitrate is an inorganic compound with the formula LiNO3. It is the lithium salt of nitric acid (an alkali metal nitrate). The salt is deliquescent, absorbing water to form the hydrated form, lithium nitrate trihydrate. Its eutectics are of interest for heat transfer fluids.
Silver chloride is a chemical compound with the chemical formula AgCl. This white crystalline solid is well known for its low solubility in water and its sensitivity to light. Upon illumination or heating, silver chloride converts to silver, which is signaled by grey to black or purplish coloration in some samples. AgCl occurs naturally as a mineral chlorargyrite.
Lead(II) chloride (PbCl2) is an inorganic compound which is a white solid under ambient conditions. It is poorly soluble in water. Lead(II) chloride is one of the most important lead-based reagents. It also occurs naturally in the form of the mineral cotunnite.
In chemistry, water(s) of crystallization or water(s) of hydration are water molecules that are present inside crystals. Water is often incorporated in the formation of crystals from aqueous solutions. In some contexts, water of crystallization is the total mass of water in a substance at a given temperature and is mostly present in a definite (stoichiometric) ratio. Classically, "water of crystallization" refers to water that is found in the crystalline framework of a metal complex or a salt, which is not directly bonded to the metal cation.
Cadmium chloride is a white crystalline compound of cadmium and chloride, with the formula CdCl2. This salt is a hygroscopic solid that is highly soluble in water and slightly soluble in alcohol. The crystal structure of cadmium chloride (described below), is a reference for describing other crystal structures. Also known are CdCl2•H2O and the hemipenahydrate CdCl2•2.5H2O.
Tin(II) chloride, also known as stannous chloride, is a white crystalline solid with the formula SnCl2. It forms a stable dihydrate, but aqueous solutions tend to undergo hydrolysis, particularly if hot. SnCl2 is widely used as a reducing agent (in acid solution), and in electrolytic baths for tin-plating. Tin(II) chloride should not be confused with the other chloride of tin; tin(IV) chloride or stannic chloride (SnCl4).
Lithium perchlorate is the inorganic compound with the formula LiClO4. This white or colourless crystalline salt is noteworthy for its high solubility in many solvents. It exists both in anhydrous form and as a trihydrate.
Lithium fluoride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula LiF. It is a colorless solid that transitions to white with decreasing crystal size. Although odorless, lithium fluoride has a bitter-saline taste. Its structure is analogous to that of sodium chloride, but it is much less soluble in water. It is mainly used as a component of molten salts. Partly because Li and F are both light elements, and partly because F2 is highly reactive, formation of LiF from the elements releases one of the highest energies per mass of reactants, second only to that of BeO.
Silver chromate is an inorganic compound with formula Ag2CrO4 which appears as distinctively coloured brown-red crystals. The compound is insoluble and its precipitation is indicative of the reaction between soluble chromate and silver precursor salts (commonly potassium/sodium chromate with silver nitrate). This reaction is important for two uses in the laboratory: in analytical chemistry it constitutes the basis for the Mohr method of argentometry, whereas in neuroscience it is used in the Golgi method of staining neurons for microscopy.
Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but liquified due to elevated temperature. A salt that is liquid even at standard temperature and pressure is usually called a room-temperature ionic liquid, and molten salts are technically a class of ionic liquids.
Niobium pentoxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Nb2O5. A colorless, insoluble, and fairly unreactive solid, it is the most widespread precursor for other compounds and materials containing niobium. It is predominantly used in alloying, with other specialized applications in capacitors, optical glasses, and the production of lithium niobate.
Lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate is the lithium salt of the weakly coordinating anion (B(C6F5)4)−. Because of its weakly coordinating abilities, lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate makes it commercially valuable in the salt form in the catalyst composition for olefin polymerization reactions and in electrochemistry. It is a water-soluble compound. Its anion is closely related to the non-coordinating anion known as BARF. The tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borates have the advantage of operating on a one-to-one stoichiometric basis with Group IV transition metal polyolefin catalysts, unlike methylaluminoxane (MAO) which may be used in large excess.