Draeger - 6-2-2020 at 09:17
I found an offer for mercury(I)-chloride (only mercury compound I can get as of right now) on S3 Chemicals and got curious what one could use it for?
I probably won't mess with mercury compounds right now, but maybe I can plan something for when I have more experience.
njl - 6-2-2020 at 10:20
Could probably be used as a substitute for mercury/mercury 2 chloride in a clemmensen reduction, you could make some amalgams for
reductions/purification, reduction to mercury metal could be used to make small amounts of the fulminate (if you're interested in that)
woelen - 6-2-2020 at 10:59
Hg2Cl2 is highly insoluble and that is the reason for its reduced toxicity, compared to many other Hg-compounds.
It can be converted to HgCl2. Put some in water and SLOWLY bubble Cl2 through that water (the finer the bubbles, the better). This is a slow process,
but eventually, you will be able to get some HgCl2 in solution. Enough to make the beautiful orange/red HgI2 precipitate and also enough to do other
mercury experiments.
Keep in mind, that by doing this, you enormously increase the material's toxicity and the waste also must be meticulously kept out of the environment.
Maybe you can also oxidize Hg2Cl2 in conc. HCl to which you add a little 12% H2O2. I do not have personal experience with that though.
[Edited on 6-2-20 by woelen]
Draeger - 6-2-2020 at 11:32
Alright. Thank you. I'll probably attempt some of the above mentioned things in the future when I feel confident enough to handle them.
mackolol - 7-2-2020 at 09:40
You can make mercury thiocyanate - compound that creates pharaoh serpents when burned. But at first you must convert it to HgCl2 as said above.