Vanadyl nitrate, also called vanadium oxytrinitrate or vanadium oxynitrate is an

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

of vanadium in the +5 oxidation state with nitrate ligands and oxygen. The formula is VO(NO₃)₃. It is a pale yellow viscous liquid.

Production

It is made by soaking

vanadium pentoxide Vanadium(V) oxide (''vanadia'') is the inorganic compound with the formula V2 O5. Commonly known as vanadium pentoxide, it is a brown/yellow solid, although when freshly precipitated from aqueous solution, its colour is deep orange. Because o ...

in liquid

dinitrogen pentoxide Dinitrogen pentoxide is the chemical compound with the formula , also known as nitrogen pentoxide or nitric anhydride. It is one of the binary nitrogen oxides, a family of compounds that only contain nitrogen and oxygen. It exists as colourless ...

for durations around two days at room temperature. The yield for this method is about 85%. :V₂O₅ + 3 N₂O₅ → 2 VO(NO₃)₃. Purification can be achieved by vacuum distillation. Mononitratodioxovanadium (VO₂NO₃) is an intermediate in this synthesis. It is a brick red solid. Vanadyl nitrate can also be made from vanadyl trichloride VOCl₃ and dinitrogen pentoxide.

Structure

VO(NO₃)₃ has a distorted pentagonal bipyramid shape with idealized C_s (mirror) symmetry. The vanadium oxygen bond (157.2 pm) is typical for

vanadyl The vanadyl or oxovanadium(IV) cation, VO2+, is a functional group that is common in the coordination chemistry of vanadium. Complexes containing this functional group are characteristically blue and paramagnetic. A triple bond is proposed to ex ...

(V). Two nitrate groups in the pentagonal plane are bidentate (V-O distances range from 199 to 206 pm). The third nitrate spans the pentagonal plane (197 pm) to the position trans to oxo (223 pm). (free download)

Properties

Vanadyl nitrate dissolves in dichloromethane, nitromethane, carbon tetrachloride, and saturated hydrocarbons. 1-Hexene, or other unsaturated hydrocarbons ignite upon contact with vanadyl nitrate. Upon contact with water, it irreversibly hydrolyzes, releasing

nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...

. The ultraviolet spectrum of the liquid shows an absorption band peaking at 208 nm with a shoulder at 242 nm. At 55 °C the gaseous vanadyl nitrate has absorption bands also at 486, 582 and 658 nm in the visual light spectrum. in the infrared region, liquid vanadyl nitrate absorbs at 1880, 1633, 1612, 1560, 1306, 1205, 1016, 996, 965, 895, 783, 632, 457, 357, 301, 283, 234, 193, 133, 93 and 59 cm⁻¹. Gaseous vanadyl nitrate has absorption bands at 775, 783, 786, 962.5, 994.4, 997.5, 1000.5, 1006.2, 1012, 1016.3, 1020, 1198, 1211, 1216.3, 1564, 1612, 1629, 1632, 1635, 1648 and 1888 cm⁻¹. Many of these bands are due to stretching in nitrogen–oxygen bonds, but 1016.3 cm⁻¹ is due to the double vanadium–oxygen bond. 786 is due to out of phase wagging in N-O, and 775 is due to deformation in O-N=O in the mirror plane.

Reactions

It is a nitrating agent for aromatic compounds. Reactions proceed at room temperature. Often dichloromethane is used as an inert solvent. Nitrotoluene,

methyl benzoate Methyl benzoate is an organic compound. It is an ester with the chemical formula C6H5CO2CH3. It is a colorless liquid that is poorly soluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Methyl benzoate has a pleasant smell, strongly reminiscen ...

and

benzoic acid Benzoic acid is a white (or colorless) solid organic compound with the formula , whose structure consists of a benzene ring () with a carboxyl () substituent. It is the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name is derived from gum benzoin, wh ...

are nitrated by prolonged exposure over a few days. Benzonitrile does not react. Vanadyl nitrate form a solid pale yellow adduct with

boron trifluoride Boron trifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula BF3. This pungent, colourless, and toxic gas forms white fumes in moist air. It is a useful Lewis acid and a versatile building block for other boron compounds. Structure and bondin ...

. An adduct is also formed with

acetonitrile Acetonitrile, often abbreviated MeCN (methyl cyanide), is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . This colourless liquid is the simplest organic nitrile (hydrogen cyanide is a simpler nitrile, but the cyanide anion is not clas ...

Production

Structure

Properties

Reactions

References

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