Copper(II) thiocyanate (or cupric thiocyanate) is a
coordination polymer
A coordination polymer is an inorganic or organometallic polymer structure containing metal cation centers linked by ligands. More formally a coordination polymer is a coordination compound with repeating coordination entities extending in 1, 2, o ...
with formula Cu(SCN)
2.
It is a black solid which slowly decomposes in moist air.
It was first reported in 1838 by Carl Ernst
Claus Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German officer who, along with others, attempted to assassina ...
and its structure was determined first in 2018.
Structure
The structure of Cu(SCN)
2 was determined via powder X-ray diffraction and consists of chains of Cu(NCS)
2 linked together by weak Cu-S-Cu bonds into two-dimensional layers. It can be considered a
Jahn-Teller distorted analogue of the
mercury thiocyanate structure-type. Each copper is octahedrally coordinated by four sulfurs and two nitrogens. The sulfur end of the SCN- ligand is doubly
bridging.
Synthesis
Copper(II) thiocyanate can be prepared from the reaction of concentrated solutions of copper(II) and a soluble thiocyanate salt in water, precipitating as a black powder.
With rapid drying, pure Cu(SCN)
2 can be isolated. Reaction at lower concentrations and for longer periods of time generates instead
copper(I) thiocyanate
Copper(I) thiocyanate (or cuprous thiocyanate) is a coordination polymer with formula CuSCN. It is an air-stable, white solid used as a precursor for the preparation of other thiocyanate salts.
Structure
At least two polymorphs have been charac ...
.
Magnetism
Copper(II) thiocyanate, like
copper(II) bromide
Copper(II) bromide (Copper, CuBromine, Br2) is a chemical compound. It is used in photographic processing as an intensifier and as a Halogenation, brominating agent in organic synthesis.
It is also used in the copper vapor laser, a class of laser ...
and
copper(II) chloride
Copper(II) chloride is the chemical compound with the chemical formula CuCl2. The anhydrous form is yellowish brown but slowly absorbs moisture to form a blue-green dihydrate.
Both the anhydrous and the dihydrate forms occur naturally as the ver ...
, is a quasi low-dimensional antiferromagnet and it orders at 12K into a conventional Néel ground state.
References
{{Copper compounds
Copper(II) compounds
Coordination polymers
Thiocyanates