Mercuric_nitrate

Mercury(II) nitrate

Mercury(II) nitrate

Chemical compound

Mercury(II) nitrate is an inorganic compound with the formula Hg(NO3)2.xH2O. These colorless or white soluble crystalline salts are occasionally used as a reagent. It is made by treating mercury with hot concentrated nitric acid. Neither anhydrous nor monohydrate has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography.[1] The anhydrous material is more widely used.

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Uses

Mercuric nitrate has been used in mercuration of ketones.[2] Mercuric nitrate was formerly used in carroting felt for hats.

Health information

Mercury compounds are highly toxic. The use of this compound by hatters and the subsequent mercury poisoning of said hatters is a common theory of where the phrase "mad as a hatter" came from.


See also

References

  1. [1]
    Nolte, M.; Pantenburg, I.; Meyer, G. (9 December 2005). "The Monohydrate of Basic Mercuric Nitrate, [Hg(OH)](NO3)(H2O)". Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie (in German). 632 (1). Wiley Publishing: 111–113. doi:10.1002/zaac.200500344. ISSN 0044-2313. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  2. [2]
    Morton, Avery A.; Penner, Hellmut P. (1951). "Mercuration of Ketones and Some Other Compounds with Mercuric Nitrate". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 73 (7): 3300–3304. doi:10.1021/ja01151a091.
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