Names | |||
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Systematic IUPAC name Perchloric acid | |||
Other names Hyperchloric acid [1] | |||
Identifiers | |||
3D model (JSmol) | |||
ChEBI | |||
ChEMBL | |||
ChemSpider | |||
ECHA InfoCard | 100.028.648 | ||
EC Number |
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PubChem CID | |||
RTECS number |
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UNII | |||
UN number | 1873 | ||
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |||
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Properties | |||
HClO4 | |||
Molar mass | 100.46 g/mol | ||
Appearance | colorless liquid | ||
Odor | odorless | ||
Density | 1.768 g/cm3 | ||
Melting point | −17 °C (1 °F; 256 K) (72% aqueous solution) [2] −112 °C (anhydrous) | ||
Boiling point | 203 °C (397 °F; 476 K) (azeotrope) [2] | ||
Miscible | |||
Acidity (pKa) | −15.2 (±2.0); [3] ≈ −10 | ||
Conjugate base | Perchlorate | ||
Hazards | |||
Occupational safety and health (OHS/OSH): | |||
Main hazards | Powerful oxidizer, highly corrosive | ||
GHS labelling: | |||
Danger | |||
H271, H290, H302, H314, H373 | |||
P210, P280, P303+P361+P353, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P310, P371, P375, P380 | |||
NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | |||
Flash point | Non-flammable | ||
Safety data sheet (SDS) | ICSC 1006 | ||
Related compounds | |||
Related compounds | Hydrochloric acid Hypochlorous acid Chlorous acid Chloric acid | ||
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). |
Perchloric acid is a mineral acid with the formula H Cl O 4. Usually found as an aqueous solution, this colorless compound is a stronger acid than sulfuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. It is a powerful oxidizer when hot, but aqueous solutions up to approximately 70% by weight at room temperature are generally safe, only showing strong acid features and no oxidizing properties. Perchloric acid is useful for preparing perchlorate salts, especially ammonium perchlorate, an important rocket fuel component. Perchloric acid is dangerously corrosive and readily forms potentially explosive mixtures. [4]
Perchloric acid was first synthesized (together with potassium perchlorate) by Austrian chemist Friedrich von Stadion and called "oxygenated chloric acid" in mid-1810s. French pharmacist Georges-Simon Serullas introduced the modern designation along with discovering its solid monohydrate (which he, however, mistook for an anhydride). [5]
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Perchloric acid is produced industrially by two routes. The traditional method exploits the high aqueous solubility of sodium perchlorate (209 g/100 ml of water at room temperature). Treatment of such solutions with hydrochloric acid gives perchloric acid, precipitating solid sodium chloride:
The concentrated acid can be purified by distillation. The alternative route, which is more direct and avoids salts, entails anodic oxidation of aqueous chlorine at a platinum electrode. [6] [7]
It can be distilled from a solution of potassium perchlorate in sulfuric acid. [8] Treatment of barium perchlorate with sulfuric acid precipitates barium sulfate, leaving perchloric acid. It can also be made by mixing nitric acid with ammonium perchlorate and boiling while adding hydrochloric acid. The reaction gives nitrous oxide and perchloric acid due to a concurrent reaction involving the ammonium ion and can be concentrated and purified significantly by boiling off the remaining nitric and hydrochloric acids.
Anhydrous perchloric acid is an unstable oily liquid at room temperature. It forms at least five hydrates, several of which have been characterized crystallographically. These solids consist of the perchlorate anion linked via hydrogen bonds to H2O and H3O+ centers. [9] An example is hydronium perchlorate. Perchloric acid forms an azeotrope with water, consisting of about 72.5% perchloric acid. This form of the acid is stable indefinitely and is commercially available. Such solutions are hygroscopic. Thus, if left open to the air, concentrated perchloric acid dilutes itself by absorbing water from the air.
Dehydration of perchloric acid gives the anhydride dichlorine heptoxide: [10]
Perchloric acid is mainly produced as a precursor to ammonium perchlorate, which is used in rocket fuel. The growth in rocketry has led to increased production of perchloric acid. Several million kilograms are produced annually. [6] Perchloric acid is one of the most proven materials for etching of liquid crystal displays and critical electronics applications as well as ore extraction and has unique properties in analytical chemistry. [11] Additionally it is a useful component in etching of chrome. [12]
Perchloric acid, a superacid, is one of the strongest Brønsted–Lowry acids. That its pKa is lower than −9 is evidenced by the fact that its monohydrate contains discrete hydronium ions and can be isolated as a stable, crystalline solid, formulated as [H3O+][ClO–
4]. [13] The most recent estimate of its aqueous pKa is −15.2±2.0. [3] It provides strong acidity with minimal interference because perchlorate is weakly nucleophilic (explaining the high acidity of HClO4). Other acids of noncoordinating anions, such as fluoroboric acid and hexafluorophosphoric acid are susceptible to hydrolysis, whereas perchloric acid is not. Despite hazards associated with the explosiveness of its salts, the acid is often preferred in certain syntheses. [14] For similar reasons, it is a useful eluent in ion-exchange chromatography. It is also used in electropolishing or the etching of aluminium, molybdenum, and other metals.
In geochemistry, perchloric acid aids in the digestion of silicate mineral samples for analysis, and also for complete digestion of organic matter [15] .
Given its strong oxidizing properties, perchloric acid is subject to extensive regulations as it can react violently with metals and flammable substances such as wood, plastics, and oils. [16] Work conducted with perchloric acid must be conducted in fume hoods with a wash-down capability to prevent accumulation of oxidisers in the ductwork.
On February 20, 1947 in Los Angeles, California, 17 people were killed and 150 injured in the O'Connor Plating Works disaster. A bath, consisting of over 1000 litres of 75% perchloric acid and 35% acetic anhydride by volume which was being used to electro-polish aluminium furniture, exploded. Organic compounds were added to the overheating bath when an iron rack was replaced with one coated with cellulose acetobutyrate (Tenit-2 plastic). A few minutes later the bath exploded. [17] [18] The O'Connor Electro-Plating plant, 25 other buildings, and 40 automobiles were destroyed, and 250 nearby homes were damaged.
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, 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.
Chlorine is a chemical element; it has symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine is a yellow-green gas at room temperature. It is an extremely reactive element and a strong oxidising agent: among the elements, it has the highest electron affinity and the third-highest electronegativity on the revised Pauling scale, behind only oxygen and fluorine.
In chemistry, hydronium (hydroxonium in traditional British English) is the cation [H3O]+, also written as H3O+, the type of oxonium ion produced by protonation of water. It is often viewed as the positive ion present when an Arrhenius acid is dissolved in water, as Arrhenius acid molecules in solution give up a proton (a positive hydrogen ion, H+) to the surrounding water molecules (H2O). In fact, acids must be surrounded by more than a single water molecule in order to ionize, yielding aqueous H+ and conjugate base. Three main structures for the aqueous proton have garnered experimental support: the Eigen cation, which is a tetrahydrate, H3O+(H2O)3, the Zundel cation, which is a symmetric dihydrate, H+(H2O)2, and the Stoyanov cation, an expanded Zundel cation, which is a hexahydrate: H+(H2O)2(H2O)4. Spectroscopic evidence from well-defined IR spectra overwhelmingly supports the Stoyanov cation as the predominant form. For this reason, it has been suggested that wherever possible, the symbol H+(aq) should be used instead of the hydronium ion.
Ammonium perchlorate ("AP") is an inorganic compound with the formula NH4ClO4. It is a colorless or white solid that is soluble in water. It is a powerful oxidizer. Combined with a fuel, it can be used as a rocket propellant called ammonium perchlorate composite propellant. Its instability has involved it in a number of accidents, such as the PEPCON disaster.
Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, optimally in a molar ratio of 1:3. Aqua regia is a fuming liquid. Freshly prepared aqua regia is colorless, but it turns yellow, orange or red within seconds from the formation of nitrosyl chloride and nitrogen dioxide. It was so named by alchemists because it can dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum, though not all metals.
The compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula HCl and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hydrogen chloride gas and hydrochloric acid are important in technology and industry. Hydrochloric acid, the aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride, is also commonly given the formula HCl.
An acidic oxide is an oxide that either produces an acidic solution upon addition to water, or acts as an acceptor of hydroxide ions effectively functioning as a Lewis acid. Acidic oxides will typically have a low pKa and may be inorganic or organic. A commonly encountered acidic oxide, carbon dioxide produces an acidic solution when dissolved.
Potassium perchlorate is the inorganic salt with the chemical formula KClO4. Like other perchlorates, this salt is a strong oxidizer when the solid is heated at high temperature although it usually reacts very slowly in solution with reducing agents or organic substances. This colorless crystalline solid is a common oxidizer used in fireworks, ammunition percussion caps, explosive primers, and is used variously in propellants, flash compositions, stars, and sparklers. It has been used as a solid rocket propellant, although in that application it has mostly been replaced by the more performant ammonium perchlorate.
Chloric acid, HClO3, is an oxoacid of chlorine, and the formal precursor of chlorate salts. It is a strong acid (pKa ≈ −2.7) and an oxidizing agent.
In chemistry, hydrogen halides are diatomic, inorganic compounds that function as Arrhenius acids. The formula is HX where X is one of the halogens: fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine, or tennessine. All known hydrogen halides are gases at standard temperature and pressure.
Dichlorine heptoxide is the chemical compound with the formula Cl2O7. This chlorine oxide is the anhydride of perchloric acid. It is produced by the careful distillation of perchloric acid in the presence of the dehydrating agent phosphorus pentoxide:
Sodium perchlorate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NaClO4. It consists of sodium cations Na+ and perchlorate anions ClO−4. It is a white crystalline, hygroscopic solid that is highly soluble in water and ethanol. It is usually encountered as sodium perchlorate monohydrate NaClO4·H2O. The compound is noteworthy as the most water-soluble of the common perchlorate salts.
In chemistry, a strong electrolyte is a solute that completely, or almost completely, ionizes or dissociates in a solution. These ions are good conductors of electric current in the solution.
An oxyacid, oxoacid, or ternary acid is an acid that contains oxygen. Specifically, it is a compound that contains hydrogen, oxygen, and at least one other element, with at least one hydrogen atom bonded to oxygen that can dissociate to produce the H+ cation and the anion of the acid.
Chloroplatinic acid (also known as hexachloroplatinic acid) is an inorganic compound with the formula [H3O]2[PtCl6](H2O)x (0 ≤ x ≤ 6). A red solid, it is an important commercial source of platinum, usually as an aqueous solution. Although often written in shorthand as H2PtCl6, it is the hydronium (H3O+) salt of the hexachloroplatinate anion (PtCl2−
6). Hexachloroplatinic acid is highly hygroscopic.
Leveling effect or solvent leveling refers to the effect of solvent on the properties of acids and bases. The strength of a strong acid is limited ("leveled") by the basicity of the solvent. Similarly the strength of a strong base is leveled by the acidity of the solvent. When a strong acid is dissolved in water, it reacts with it to form hydronium ion (H3O+). An example of this would be the following reaction, where "HA" is the strong acid:
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gastric acid in the digestive systems of most animal species, including humans. Hydrochloric acid is an important laboratory reagent and industrial chemical.
Hydronium perchlorate is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula [H3O]ClO4. It is an unusual salt due to it being a solid and stable hydronium salt. It consists of hydronium cations [H3O]+ and perchlorate anions ClO−4.
Nitrosyl perchlorate is the inorganic compound with the formula NO(ClO4). A hygroscopic white solid, it is the salt of the nitrosonium cation with the perchlorate anion. It is an oxidant and strong electrophile, but has fallen out of use with the availability of the closely related salt nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate NO(BF4).
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