Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disciplines is far from absolute, as there is much overlap in the subdiscipline of organometallic chemistry. It has applications in every aspect of the chemical industry, including catalysis, materials science, pigments, surfactants, coatings, medications, fuels, and agriculture.
Lithium aluminium hydride, commonly abbreviated to LAH, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Li[AlH4] or LiAlH4. It is a white solid, discovered by Finholt, Bond and Schlesinger in 1947. This compound is used as a reducing agent in organic synthesis, especially for the reduction of esters, carboxylic acids, and amides. The solid is dangerously reactive toward water, releasing gaseous hydrogen (H2). Some related derivatives have been discussed for hydrogen storage.
Manganese(III) fluoride (also known as Manganese trifluoride) is the inorganic compound with the formula MnF3. This red/purplish solid is useful for converting hydrocarbons into fluorocarbons, i.e., it is a fluorination agent. It forms a hydrate and many derivatives.
Vanadium(V) oxide (vanadia) is the inorganic compound with the formula V2O5. Commonly known as vanadium pentoxide, it is a brown/yellow solid, although when freshly precipitated from aqueous solution, its colour is deep orange. Because of its high oxidation state, it is both an amphoteric oxide and an oxidizing agent. From the industrial perspective, it is the most important compound of vanadium, being the principal precursor to alloys of vanadium and is a widely used industrial catalyst.
Vanadium oxytrichloride is the inorganic compound with the formula VOCl3. This yellow distillable liquid hydrolyzes readily in air. It is an oxidizing agent. It is used as a reagent in organic synthesis. Samples often appear red or orange owing to an impurity of vanadium tetrachloride.
Ammonium metavanadate is the inorganic compound with the formula NH4VO3. It is a white salt, although samples are often yellow owing to impurities of V2O5. It is an important intermediate in the purification of vanadium.
Vanadium trichloride is the inorganic compound with the formula VCl3. This purple salt is a common precursor to other vanadium(III) complexes.
Molybdenum(V) chloride is the inorganic compound with the empirical formula MoCl5. This dark volatile solid is used in research to prepare other molybdenum compounds. It is moisture-sensitive and soluble in chlorinated solvents.
Vanadium(III) bromide, also known as vanadium tribromide, is the inorganic compound with the formula VBr3. It is a green-black solid. In terms of its structure, the compound is polymeric with octahedral vanadium(III) surrounded by six bromide ligands.
Vanadium(II) chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula VCl2, and is the most reduced vanadium chloride. Vanadium(II) chloride is an apple-green solid that dissolves in water to give purple solutions.
Vanadium(III) oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula V2O3. It is a black solid prepared by reduction of V2O5 with hydrogen or carbon monoxide. It is a basic oxide dissolving in acids to give solutions of vanadium (III) complexes. V2O3 has the corundum structure. It is antiferromagnetic with a critical temperature of 160 K. At this temperature there is an abrupt change in conductivity from metallic to insulating. This also distorts the crystal structure to a monoclinic space group: C2/c.
Vanadium compounds are compounds formed by the element vanadium (V). The chemistry of vanadium is noteworthy for the accessibility of the four adjacent oxidation states 2–5, whereas the chemistry of the other group 5 elements, niobium and tantalum, are somewhat more limited to the +5 oxidation state. In aqueous solution, vanadium forms metal aquo complexes of which the colours are lilac [V(H2O)6]2+, green [V(H2O)6]3+, blue [VO(H2O)5]2+, yellow-orange oxides [VO(H2O)5]3+, the formula for which depends on pH. Vanadium(II) compounds are reducing agents, and vanadium(V) compounds are oxidizing agents. Vanadium(IV) compounds often exist as vanadyl derivatives, which contain the VO2+ center.
Tetrabutylammonium tribromide, abbreviated to TBATB, is a pale orange solid with the formula [N(C4H9)4]Br3. It is a salt of the lipophilic tetrabutylammonium cation and the linear tribromide anion. The salt is sometimes used as a reagent used in organic synthesis as a conveniently weighable, solid source of bromine.
Soft chemistry is a type of chemistry that uses reactions at ambient temperature in open reaction vessels with reactions similar to those occurring in biological systems.
Metal acetylacetonates are coordination complexes derived from the acetylacetonate anion (CH
3COCHCOCH−
3) and metal ions, usually transition metals. The bidentate ligand acetylacetonate is often abbreviated acac. Typically both oxygen atoms bind to the metal to form a six-membered chelate ring. The simplest complexes have the formula M(acac)3 and M(acac)2. Mixed-ligand complexes, e.g. VO(acac)2, are also numerous. Variations of acetylacetonate have also been developed with myriad substituents in place of methyl (RCOCHCOR′−). Many such complexes are soluble in organic solvents, in contrast to the related metal halides. Because of these properties, acac complexes are sometimes used as catalyst precursors and reagents. Applications include their use as NMR "shift reagents" and as catalysts for organic synthesis, and precursors to industrial hydroformylation catalysts. C
5H
7O−
2 in some cases also binds to metals through the central carbon atom; this bonding mode is more common for the third-row transition metals such as platinum(II) and iridium(III).
Vanadyl acetylacetonate is the chemical compound with the formula VO(acac)2, where acac– is the conjugate base of acetylacetone. It is a blue-green solid that dissolves in polar organic solvents. The coordination complex consists of the vanadyl group, VO2+, bound to two acac– ligands via the two oxygen atoms on each. Like other charge-neutral acetylacetonate complexes, it is not soluble in water.
Vanadium(V) fluoride is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula VF5. It is a colorless volatile liquid. It is a highly reactive compound, as indicated by its ability to fluorinate organic substances.
Bismuth(III) nitrate is a salt composed of bismuth in its cationic +3 oxidation state and nitrate anions. The most common solid form is the pentahydrate. It is used in the synthesis of other bismuth compounds. It is available commercially. It is the only nitrate salt formed by a group 15 element, indicative of bismuth's metallic nature.
Vanadium phosphates are inorganic compounds with the formula VOxPO4 as well related hydrates with the formula VOxPO4(H2O)n. Some of these compounds are used commercially as catalysts for oxidation reactions.
Vanadium(II) sulfate describes a family of inorganic compounds with the formula VSO4(H2O)x where 0 ≤ x ≤ 7. The hexahydrate is most commonly encountered. It is a violet solid that dissolves in water to give air-sensitive solutions of the aquo complex. The salt is isomorphous with [Mg(H2O)6]SO4. Compared to the V–O bond length of 191 pm in [V(H2O)6]3+, the V–O distance is 212 pm in the [V(H2O)6]SO4. This nearly 10% elongation reflects the effect of the lower charge, hence weakened electrostatic attraction.
