Copper Chloride

The binary substance of copper chloride (monochloride), whose formula is CuCl, is a hydrochloric acid salt. This powder is usually white or green, very poorly soluble in water. The greenish hue of the crystals of monochloride is explained by the presence of impurities of a divalent substance, which is called copper chloride ii.

This connection was first obtained by the great chemist Robert Boyle. This event happened a long time, in 1666, and to receive the scientist used simple metallic copper and divalent mercury chloride. Then, in 1799, Joseph Proust isolated from the monochloride crystals of dichloride. This reaction was a process of gradual heating of the solution, as a result of which the chloride of copper (II) lost part of the chlorine, about half of its presence. The separation of the dichloride from the monochloride was carried out by conventional washing.

Copper monochloride is a white crystalline substance that, at a temperature of 408 ° C, changes the shape of the crystal lattice. Since this compound melts and boils practically without decomposition, its chemical formula is sometimes written in the form of Cu2Cl2. Monochloride, however, like other copper compounds, is toxic.

The copper chloride compound, the formula of which is written as CuCl2, externally is a dark brown single crystal of a wedge shape. When interacting with even a very small amount of water, the crystals of the compound change color: from dark brown to green, and then to blue. It is interesting that if you add very little hydrochloric acid in such an aqueous solution , the crystals will return to one of the intermediate states - they will turn greenish.

The melting point of the substance is 537 ° C, and at a temperature of 954-1032 ° C, it boils. The compound is soluble in substances such as water, alcohol, ammonia. Its density is 3.054 g / cm3. With a constant dilution of the solution and maintaining the temperature at 25 ° C, the molar conductivity of the substance is 265.9 cm2 / mol.

Copper chloride is produced by the action of chlorine on copper, as well as by reaction of copper (II) sulfate with sulfuric acid. Industrial production is based on roasting mixtures of copper sulfides with sodium chloride. In this reaction, a temperature of 550-600 ° C must be maintained during the reaction, as a result of which, in addition to the substance in question, the presence of components such as HCl, sulfur gases and arsenic compounds in the gaseous state is detected. There are known manufactures where the production of copper chloride is carried out by initiating an exchange reaction between copper sulfate and BaCl2.

At a temperature of 993 ° C, the substance decomposes into CuCl and Cl2, its solubility in aqueous solutions is characterized by:

- when dissolved in an aqueous solution of 25-degree temperature, 77.4 grams of copper chloride is completely dissolved in 100 grams of water;

- when the solution reaches a temperature of 100 ° C, 120 grams of the substance dissolve in it. In both cases, it is assumed that the density of CuCl2 was the same.

Copper chloride is widely used as a chemical catalyst, a component of pyrotechnic mixtures, in the production of a variety of mineral dyes. As an ammonia solution, it is used as a flue gas analyzer, contributes to the calculation of their concentration and the level of carbon dioxide. Dichloride is used and as an oxygen carrier at various stages of chemical production, such technology, for example, is common in the production of organic dyes.

The salt of copper chloride, for all its difficult solubility, is able to form a series of crystalline hydrates. In this case, the concentrated solution of the substance has the ability to add nitrogen oxide, which also finds wide application in the production of drugs and in the chemical industry.