symboom - 21-1-2012 at 16:42
so it made some lithium carbide by reaction of elements lithium metal and carbon powder now the lithium has black corrosion probally lithium nitride
now does that react with carbon to form lithium cyanide. the reason i say this i reacted with water and it did not smell like acetylene at first
smelled kinda different now i dont know what hydrogen cyanide smells like but is the reaction possible?
AndersHoveland - 21-1-2012 at 16:46
I think it could be possible, but I am not completely sure.
The surface of calcium metal will supposedly* (I am not entirely certain) react if exposed to a nitrogen atmosphere, and lithium metal can be burned
in nitrogen (unlike sodium), so it does not seem implausible that lithium carbide could potentially slowly react with nitrogen gas at ambient
temperatures.
you might read
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja02222a004
An analysis of lithium carbide that was heated (420 C) and treated with nitrogen gas showed that treated lithium carbide afterward contained
1.63% nitrogen in the form of cyanamide
0.27% nitrogen in the form of dicyanamide
0.18% nitrogen in the form of cyanide
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume 33, p1484
*see http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=47021.0
[Edited on 22-1-2012 by AndersHoveland]