*** Welcome to piglix ***

Bismuth trichloride

Bismuth chloride
Bismuth chloride
Bismuth-trichloride-xtal-1982-3D-balls.png
Names
IUPAC name
Bismuth chloride
Other names
Bismuth trichloride, Trichlorobismuth, Trichlorobismuthine, Bismuth(III) chloride
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.029.203
PubChem CID
RTECS number EB2690000
Properties
BiCl3
Molar mass 315.34 g/mol
Appearance hygroscopic white to yellow crystals
Density 4.75 g/cm3
Melting point 227 °C (441 °F; 500 K)
Boiling point 447 °C (837 °F; 720 K)
Soluble,hydrolyses
Solubility soluble in methanol, diethyl ether, acetone
-26.5·10−6 cm3/mol
Thermochemistry
0.333 J/(g K)
-1.202 kJ/g
Hazards
Safety data sheet JT Baker
NFPA 704
Flammability code 0: Will not burn. E.g., water Health code 2: Intense or continued but not chronic exposure could cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury. E.g., chloroform Reactivity code 0: Normally stable, even under fire exposure conditions, and is not reactive with water. E.g., liquid nitrogen Special hazards (white): no codeNFPA 704 four-colored diamond
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC):
LD50 (median dose)
3324 mg/kg, oral (rat)
Related compounds
Other anions
bismuth fluoride, bismuth subsalicylate, bismuth trioxide
Other cations
iron(III) chloride, manganese(II) chloride, cobalt(II) chloride
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
N  (what is YesYN ?)
Infobox references

Bismuth chloride (or butter of bismuth) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula BiCl3. It is a common source of the Bi3+ ion. In the gas phase and in the crystal, the species adopts a pyramidal structure, in accord with VSEPR theory.

Bismuth chloride can be synthesized directly by passing chlorine over bismuth.

or by dissolving bismuth metal in aqua regia, evaporating the mixture to give BiCl3·2H2O, which can be distilled to form the anhydrous trichloride.

Alternatively, it may be prepared by adding hydrochloric acid to bismuth oxide and evaporating the solution.

Also, the compound can be prepared by dissolving bismuth in concentrated nitric acid and then adding solid sodium chloride into this solution.

In the gas phase BiCl3 is pyramidal with an Cl-Bi-Cl angle of 97.5° and a bond length of 242 pm. In the solid state each Bi atom has three near neighbors at 250 pm, two at 324 pm and three at a mean of 336 pm, the image above highlights the three closest neighbours. This structure is similar to that of AsCl3, AsBr3, SbCl3 and SbBr3.

Bismuth chloride is hydrolyzed readily to bismuth oxychloride, BiOCl:

This reaction can be reversed by adding an acid, such as hydrochloric acid.

Reaction of solid BiCl3 with water vapour below 50 °C has been shown to produce the intermediate monohydrate, BiCl3.H2O.

Bismuth chloride is an oxidizing agent, being readily reduced to metallic bismuth by reducing agents.

In contrast to the usual expectation by consistency with periodic trends, BiCl3 is a Lewis acid, forming a variety of chloro complexes such as [BiCl6]3− that strongly violates the octet rule. Furthermore, the octahedral structure of this coordination complex does not follow the predictions of VSEPR theory, since the lone pair on bismuth is unexpectedly stereochemically inactive. The dianionic complex [BiCl5]2− does however adopt the expected square pyramidal structure.


...
Wikipedia

...