Aluminium acetate or aluminium ethanoate
(also "aluminum ~"), sometimes abbreviated AlAc in
geochemistry
Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the ...
, can refer to a number of different salts of aluminum with
acetic acid. In the solid state, three salts exist under this name: basic
aluminium monoacetate
Aluminium monoacetate, also known as dibasic aluminium acetate, and formally named dihydroxy aluminium acetate, is a salt of aluminium with acetic acid. It has the formula Al(OH)2(CH3COO), with aluminium in an oxidation state of +3, and appears ...
, (HO)
2AlCH
3CO
2, basic
aluminium diacetate
Aluminium diacetate, also known as basic aluminium acetate, is a white powder with the chemical formula C4H7AlO5. It is one of a number of aluminium acetates and can be prepared in a reaction of sodium aluminate (NaAlO2) with acetic acid.
Medici ...
, HOAl(CH
3CO
2)
2,
and neutral
aluminium triacetate
Aluminium triacetate, formally named aluminium acetate, is a chemical compound with composition . Under standard conditions it appears as a white, water-soluble solid that decomposes on heating at around 200 °C. The triacetate hydrolysis, ...
, Al(CH
3CO
2)
3. In aqueous solution, aluminium triacetate hydrolyses to form a mixture of the other two,
and all solutions of all three can be referred to as "aluminium acetate" as the species formed co-exist and inter-convert in
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
.
Aluminium monoacetate
Aluminium monoacetate, also known as dibasic aluminium acetate, forms from Al(OH)
3 and dilute aqueous acetic acid. More concentrated acid leads to the di- and triacetate.
Aluminium diacetate
Aluminium diacetate, also known as basic aluminium acetate, is prepared from aqueous aluminium acetate solution resulting in a white powder.
This
basic salt
Alkali salts or basic salts are salts that are the product of incomplete neutralization of a strong base and a weak acid.
Rather than being neutral (as some other salts), alkali salts are bases as their name suggests. What makes these compoun ...
forms from the hydrolysis of the triacetate in water.
Aluminium triacetate
Aluminium triacetate is a
chemical compound
A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...
that is prepared by heating
aluminium chloride
Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often contam ...
(AlCl
3) or Al powder with a mixture of
acetic acid (CH
3COOH) and
acetic anhydride (C
4H
6O
3).
It is referred as the normal salt and is only made in the absence of water at a relatively high temperature like 180 °C.
References
{{Chemistry index
Aluminium compounds
Acetates