497
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HCN produced using an arc?
in noticed in "the_war_gasses" pdf it mentions using an "electric sparks" through a mixture of acetylene and nitrogen to produce HCN. it says nothing
further about the process. would it work? it seems like a possibly easier method than the others mentioned, and yes realize it is extremely toxic, im
not about to try it at home.
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Sauron
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Try reading Ullmann's and Kirk-Othmer's as recommended in the forum FAQ. They detail industrial processes like this, with references. Reading about
making HCN will neither kill you nor get you in trouble.
Both encyclopedias are available free on MadHatter FTP.
Sic gorgeamus a los subjectatus nunc.
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Antwain
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Easier than what? distillation of a ferrocyanide? 
This *may* be of use to industry but I am willing to bet that its useless to the home chemist.
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497
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yeah youre probably right.
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chemrox
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What happened to adding mineral acid to KCN or NaCN?
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Sauron
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DILUTE mineral acid.
Potassium ferrocyanide is easier to buy, and used to be the main bench scale prep.
Org.Syn. teached the "newer" method you mention.
Sic gorgeamus a los subjectatus nunc.
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evil_lurker
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Actually I think it could be do-able, but yields would suck ass... one MIGHT get 3-5% conversion per pass.
I'm thinking take a PVC "tee" fitting, slip on both ends and FPT in the center.
Take a rubber stopper, fit a luer lock syringe and needle thru the center and wire it up. Then take another stopper, drill it out just a little bit
for some small diameter glass or quartz tubing, fit a an electrode wire thru the middle. Then simply put a screw in hose fitting on the end.
What you got is a setup where the gasses are basically injected and forced into the arc stream and any radicals are given time to react before
exiting.
Who knows, might work, might not. If it doesn't, who cares, would cost maybe $10 to build, minus the regulators and power supply.
Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in
beer.
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497
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yeah test it with the cheap pvc model, then for a little higher grade i was thinking a good long borosilicate tube housing, maybe a neon sign
transformer. would it be good to have a partial vacuum? help disperse the arc a bit... maybe refrigerator compressor for that. would surely be
interesting. what can one use HCN for anyway? (besides weeding the cannon fodder out of trenches...)
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Antwain
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If you don't know what it is used for then why are you interested in making it? 
I believe HCN finds some use in organic chem, which right at the moment is outside my area of interest, so I can't remember what exactly it is used
for. I find the CN- ion to be much more interesting as it is a very important ligand in coordination chemistry. The ion also finds use as a
nucleophile in organic chem, for making nitriles and subsequently carboxylic acids etc.
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497
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hah well i've seen many instances on this forum where people try to synthesize things that they have little use for...
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leu
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Berthelot disclosed in Comptes Rendus 67 1141-5 (1868) that the optimal results of this reaction were obtained using 10
volumes of acetylene, 14.5 volumes of nitrogen and 75.5 volumes of hydrogen using carbon electrodes  More details can be found in the attached article, this approach seems less practical than some of the related
processes using other hydrocarbons 
Attachment: berthelot.zip (60kB)
This file has been downloaded 401 times
Chemistry is our Covalent Bond
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