Arsenic and Bismuth

Masunaga, Y. Ohshiro, and T. Agawa, Synthesis, 1981, 56. M. Moreno-Manas and A. Trius, Tetrahedron Lett., 1981, 22, 3109. 

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Antimony [7440-36-0J, Sb, belongs to Group 15 (VA) of the periodic table which also includes the elements arsenic and bismuth. It is in the second long period of the table between tin and tellurium. Antimony, which may exhibit a valence of +5, +3, 0, or —3 (see Antimony compounds), is classified as a nonmetal or metalloid, although it has metallic characteristics in the trivalent state. There are two stable antimony isotopes that ate both abundant and have masses of 121 (57.25%) and 123 (42.75%). 

Arsenic dithiocarbamates, As(S2CNR2)3 (R = Bu, CH2Ph),399 and toluene-3,4-dithiolato arsenic and bismuth dithiocarbamato derivatives, (MeC6H3S2) M(S2CNR2) (M = As, Bi R = Me, Et, CH2CH2)400 have been structurally characterized and the supramolecular self-assembly in Sb(III) dithiocarbamates has been carefully examined.401... 

Some Famous Nickel Mines and Smelters. The nickel smelting works near Schneeberg in the Saxon Erzgebiige date from 1642. They produced nickel, cobalt, arsenic, and bismuth from the local ores, and refined the nickel-cobalt regulus imported from the Modum works in southern Norway (129). 

Norman, N.C. Chemistry of Arsenic and Bismuth, BQuwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, 1998. 

Some of the schemes in Table 6.6 may be difficult to distinguish. Thus NH4 could be described either by (4) or (10), and molecules such as X3PO are best described (as discussed in Section 6.1) in terms of resonance between structures (4) and a triple-bonded structure X3P b" (5 however, the properties of the molecule are consistent with a P-O bond order of about two, consistent with scheme (9). Schemes (9) and (11)—(13) require nd orbitals on the Group 15 atom and are found only for the heavier atoms, from P downwards. Arsenic and bismuth show some reluctance to adopt (9), (11) and (12), probably because their ns electrons are quite strongly bound as inert pairs . Thus AsC15, which defied preparative attempts for many decades, is stable only at low temperatures, and H3As03 has a different structure from that of H3P03 ... 

Messerschmidt et al. [113] used total reflection XFS to determine arsenic and bismuth. These elements were first converted to hydrides which were recovered and analysed by the X-ray method. 

Ternary compounds have been observed for the R-Si, Ge, Sn, Ga, In, Se, Te-Sb systems. The systems with arsenic and bismuth are characterized by formation of substitutional solid solutions between isotypic binary pnictides. No compounds have been found in the partly investigated ternary La-Al-Sb system at 773 K (Muravjova, 1971). For the Yb-Al-Sb, the formation and crystal structure of the Yb AlSbn have been reported (Fisher et al., 2000). 

Take as an illustration the case of antimony, which is by far the least-represented element in this review. From the initial indications of reactivity and structural patterns, it often behaves differently from both arsenic and bismuth. Why, for example, does Sb[Co(CO)4]3 seem to have only a fleeting existence while Bi[Co(CO)4]3 is stable Furthermore, it has not been possible to isolate SbCo3(CO)9 when both the arsenic (as the cyclic trimer) and bismuth compounds are known. And even though Sb[Co(CO)4]3 may have a fleeting existence, it spontaneously disproportionates to give [Sb2Co4(CO)n]1, whereas Bi[Co(CO)4]3 is a stable, isolable molecule. There are no molecules with the Sb3 ion present, whereas examples exist for P, As, and Bi. 

All are found in Nature as compounds except for minute amounts of elemental arsenic and bismuth. Their abundances decrease in order of increasing atomic... 

Antimony (Z = 51) lies between arsenic and bismuth in group 15 (see Periodic Table Trends in the Properties of the Elements). It has been used medicinally since the age of the alchemists. Eike other members of its group it readily forms compounds of the +3 and - -5 states. 

Thin-layer chromatography has been used to separate triphenylantimony from its phosphorus, arsenic and bismuth analogues. Rp values have been reported for these compounds on alumina plates, using light petroleum as developing solvent . 

Antimony, which is considered a nonessential element, is comparable in its toxicological behavior to arsenic and bismuth. In analogy to arsenic, trivalent antimony compounds generally are more toxic than the pentavalent compounds. Poisoning with antimony and its compounds can result from acute and chronic exposure, especially from exposure to... 

It will be seen that a number of tlie reactions afford means of obtaining organo-tballium derivatives. In the case of organo compounds of the elements of Group V., it may be stated that phosphorus and antimony chlorides yield no organo-thallium derivatives, whereas arsenic and bismuth chlorides are capable of yielding eompoimds of the type... 

About 800 CE Persian natural philosopher Abu Musa Jabir ibn Fiayyan al azdi (better known as Geber) is credited with discovering antimony, arsenic, and bismuth. 

With the Lhec/iy of Isomm-phism. Wo know only so much about it that tho clement Sb is isomorphous with the elements arsenic and bismuth, and also with its. next atom-analogies from tho same natural group. 

In the semimetals antimony, arsenic and bismuth, bonding effects are more pronounced, and the structures are not related to the simple structures of most metals. Bismuth, the heaviest, is the most metallic , and phosphorus, lying above antimony in the periodic table, is not even considered to be a semimetal. 

Arsenic and bismuth vapours, at elevated temperatures, produce insertion-type bronze phases on interaction with... 

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