Ammonium acetate

Ammonium acetate is a chemical compound with the formula NH₄CH₃COO (sometimes written as CH₃COONH₄).

Properties

Chemical

Ammonium acetate decomposes at temperatures above 165 °C to yield acetamide:

CH₃COONH₄ → CH₃C(O)NH₂ + H₂O

If heated further, it will convert to acetonitrile (methyl cyanide).

Physical

Ammonium acetate is a white hygroscopic solid. Ammonium acetate is volatile at low pressures.

Availability

Ammonium acetate can be purchased online cheaply.

Preparation

Ammonium acetate can be prepared by reacting acetic acid with ammonia, ammonium bicarbonate or carbonate. Drying the solution by boiling the excess water is difficult, as ammonium acetate will decompose. The best way to synthesize it is to bubble ammonia gas into anhydrous (glacial) acetic acid, causing the ammonium acetate to crystallize, though this is expensive.

Projects

• Acetamide synthesis
• Acetonitrile synthesis

Handling

Safety

Ammonium acetate is non-toxic, though if heated it can generate acetamide which is considered carcinogenic.

Ammonium acetate is hygroscopic and will slowly hydrolyze to yield acetic acid, which is irritant and corrosive in large quantities.

Storage

Should be stored in dry sealed containers, as it's hygroscopic.

Disposal

Ammonium acetate is a harmless source of nitrogen to organic life and can be discarded without any special treatments.

References

Relevant Sciencemadness threads

• Ammonium acetate
• blood red ammonium acetate.