Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Gallium and mercury compound + photo

Gallium and mercury compound + photo

vano - 5-12-2020 at 08:43

I know this reaction is true:
Hg2Cl2 + 2GaCl3 →Hg2[GaCl3]2

I tried it with mercury (I) nitrate dihydrate and gallium (III) nitrate nonanhydrate. I mixed this hydrates and heated.

There are reagents and compounds. I dont know why it is transparent.

vano - 5-12-2020 at 08:45

Bezaleel - 5-12-2020 at 12:27

Thanks for showing pictures of some unusual compound

What are the products in your second post?

DraconicAcid - 5-12-2020 at 14:21

Quote: Originally posted by vano.kavt

I know this reaction is true:
Hg2Cl2 + 2GaCl3 →Hg2[GaCl3]2

I tried it with mercury (I) nitrate dihydrate and gallium (III) nitrate nonanhydrate. I mixed this hydrates and heated.

There are reagents and compounds. I dont know why it is transparent.

I suspect that the gelatinous blob that you have obtained is not the product you desire. You would probably need to use anhydrous starting materials to get the desired product.

ETA: GaCl3 is a Lewis acid because Ga doesn't have a full octet (just like the aluminum and boron analogues). Ga(NO3)3*9H2O will have a gallium coordinated by plenty of oxygens, and will not abstract any anion from the mercury(I) cation.

[Edited on 6-12-2020 by DraconicAcid]

vano - 5-12-2020 at 22:08

Quote: Originally posted by Bezaleel

What are the products in your second post?

Yellow is mercury(I) nitrate dihydrate and white is gallium nitrate nonanhydrate. Thanks for your interest.

vano - 5-12-2020 at 22:19

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid

I suspect that the gelatinous blob that you have obtained is not the product you desire. You would probably need to use anhydrous starting materials to get the desired product.

I dont know exact formula, but i think Hg2[Ga(NO3)4] is imposoble. I have never read Mercury(I) tetranitratogallate. But halogen complexes are possible. I took hydrates specifically, because they have low melting points. Also this mercury salt isn't stable and produce mercury oxide. First of all I use it to get it.

[Edited on 6-12-2020 by vano.kavt]

[Edited on 6-12-2020 by vano.kavt]

vano - 6-12-2020 at 12:06

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid

ETA: GaCl3 is a Lewis acid because Ga doesn't have a full octet (just like the aluminum and boron analogues). Ga(NO3)3*9H2O will have a gallium coordinated by plenty of oxygens, and will not abstract any anion from the mercury(I) cation.

[Edited on 6-12-2020 by DraconicAcid]

Yes, you are right. The final product was waterless. Completely evaporated. I dont know what it is, maybe its only mixture. I will try chloride in the future.

DraconicAcid - 6-12-2020 at 12:17

Quote: Originally posted by vano.kavt

Yes, you are right. The final product was waterless. Completely evaporated. I dont know what it is, maybe its only mixture. I will try chloride in the future.

Letting all the solvent evaporate doesn't mean that the compound is anhydrous.

vano - 6-12-2020 at 12:45

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid

Letting all the solvent evaporate doesn't mean that the compound is anhydrous.

of course. I know hydrates exist, I always point out. But when you heat it to a high temperature it is impossible to be hydrated.

DraconicAcid - 6-12-2020 at 13:05

Quote: Originally posted by vano.kavt

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid

Letting all the solvent evaporate doesn't mean that the compound is anhydrous.

of course. I know hydrates exist, I always point out. But when you heat it to a high temperature it is impossible to be hydrated.

How much did you heat it?

Something like hydrated aluminum nitrate would surely decompose to the oxide or hydroxide instead of becoming anhydrous aluminum nitrate when heated- I would expect the gallium salt to behave similarly.

ETA: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10973-005-0909-x

[Edited on 6-12-2020 by DraconicAcid]

vano - 6-12-2020 at 13:18

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid

How much did you heat it?

Finally I heated it too much with propane torch. Would most likely decompose into oxides, but I do not know why it remained white. mercury oxide is orange. It also produced nitrogen oxide gas.