Bismuth(III) nitrate is a salt composed of
bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs ...
in its
cationic +3
oxidation state
In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical charge of an atom if all of its bonds to different atoms were fully ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound. C ...
and
nitrate anions. The most common solid form is the penta
hydrate. It is used in the synthesis of other bismuth compounds. It is available commercially. It is the only
nitrate salt formed by a
group 15
A pnictogen ( or ; from grc, πνῑ́γω "to choke" and -gen, "generator") is any of the chemical elements in group 15 of the periodic table. Group 15 is also known as the nitrogen group or nitrogen family. Group 15 consists of the ...
element, indicative of bismuth's
metallic
Metallic may be a reference to:
*Metal
* Metalloid, metal-like substance
*Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding
* Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object
*Metallic color, a color that ...
nature.
Preparation and reactions
Bismuth nitrate can be prepared by the reaction of bismuth metal and concentrated nitric acid.
: Bi + 4HNO
3 → Bi(NO
3)
3 + 2H
2O + NO
It dissolves in nitric acid but is readily hydrolysed to form a range of
oxynitrates when the pH increases above 0.
It is also soluble in acetone, acetic acid and glycerol but practically insoluble in ethanol and ethyl acetate.
Some uses in organic synthesis have been reported for example the nitration of aromatic compounds and selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides.
Bismuth nitrate forms insoluble complexes with
pyrogallol
Pyrogallol is an organic compound with the formula C6H3(OH)3. It is a water-soluble, white solid although samples are typically brownish because of its sensitivity toward oxygen. It is one of three isomers of benzenetriols.
Production and reac ...
and
cupferron
Cupferron is jargon for the ammonium salt of the conjugate base derived from ''N''-nitroso-N-phenylhydroxylamine. It once was a common reagent for the complexation of metal ions, being of interest in the area of qualitative inorganic analysis. Its ...
and these have been the basis of
gravimetric methods of determining bismuth content.
[A.I. Vogel,(1951), Quantitative Inorganic analysis, (2d edition), Longmans Green and Co]
On heating bismuth nitrate can decompose forming
nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is one of several nitrogen oxides. is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year for use primarily in the productio ...
, NO
2.
Structure
The crystal form is triclinic, and contains 10 coordinate Bi
3+, (three bidentate nitrate ions and four water molecules).
References
{{nitrates
Bismuth nitrate
Bismuth(III) nitrate is a salt composed of bismuth in its cationic +3 oxidation state and nitrate anions. The most common solid form is the pentahydrate. It is used in the synthesis of other bismuth compounds. It is available commercially. It is th ...
Nitrates