Beryllium chloride, anhydrous

Beryllium butyrate, basic, properties and structure of, 3 7, 8 Beryllium carbonate, basic, for use in preparation of basic beryllium acetate, 3 10 Beryllium chloride, anhydrous, 6 22 Beryllium o-chlorobenzoate, basic, properties of, 3 7 Beryllium complex compounds, basic, of organic acids, 3 4 basic, structure of, 3 6 nonelectrolytes, with acetylace-tone, Be(CsH702)2, 2 17 with benzoylacetone, Be(Cio-H 02)2, 2 19... 

BeryUium chloride [7787-47-5], BeCl2, is prepared by heating a mixture of beryUium oxide and carbon in chloride at 600—800°C. At pressures of 2.7—6.7 Pa (0.02—0.05 mm Hg) beryllium chloride sublimes at 350—380°C. It is easily hydrolyzed by water vapor or in aqueous solutions. BeryUium chloride hydrate [14871-75-1] has been obtained by concentrating a saturated aqueous solution of the chloride in a stream of hydrogen chloride. ChloroberyUate compounds have not been isolated from aqueous solutions, but they have been isolated from anhydrous fused salt mixtures. 

Beryllium chloride, an electron-deficient compound similar to aluminum chloride, is a Lewis acid. The anhydrous salt is used as a catalyst in organic reactions. Its applications, however, are limited. 

Beryllium has also been prepared2 by other methods (1) Beryllium chloride is easily reduced by sodium or potassium, but the chloride must be in the anhydrous condition and its preparation is very troublesome. (2) The Goldschmidt process yields metallic beryllium containing about 10 per cent aluminium. The application of external heat is necessary in order to raise the temperature above the melting point of beryllium. (3) Potassium beryllium fluoride mixed with sodium and heated strongly gives metallic beryllium. 

Group 2 All react vigorously to produce ionic chlorides of formula MCI2, except that BeClj is covalent when anhydrous. All Group 2 chlorides are soluble in water producing hydrated ions of formula [M(H20)J L Beryllium chloride gives an acidic solution because of... 

Beryllium Phosphide.—Claimed by Wohler (1828 2), by die action of phosphorus on the metal, but unconfirmed by this method. Lebeau, however, (1899 prepared a compound of beryllium and phosphorus, which he did not analyze or describe, by means of the action of phosphorus vapor on anhydrous beryllium chloride and iodide. 

Anhydrous beryllium chloride BeCL has no action on aluminium. In concentrated solutions, the formation of a film protects aluminium even at 100 °C. Anhydrous beryllium chloride is stored and transported in aluminium alloy vessels. 

Beryllium Sulphide.—Wohler (1828 2) supposed he had made a sulphide by heating the metal with sulphur, but Fremy (1853 1) states that it was the only sulphide he could not produce by I>assing the vapor of carbon disulphide over the hot oxide. De-bray (1855 i) and Nilson and Pettersson (1873 3) state that beryllium and sulphur do not combine when heated together. Berzelius (1826 2) supposed he produced a double sulphide of bci yllium and tungsten, but his results lack confirmation. Lebeau (1899 ii) at last made the sulphide by heating the anhydrous chloride and iodide with. sulphur or with hydrc en sulphide. Also by the action of sulphim vapor on the carbide at a high temperature, lire. sulphide is a white solid, immediately decomposed by water. No other details are given nor further study of this compound been made. 

In 1798 Vauquelin examined beryl, which Haiiy suspected was the same as the true emerald, and found in it a new earth which he called la terre de beril , but, since its compounds have a sweet taste, the editors of the Annales de Chimie proposed to call it glucina , from the Greek yXvKv, sweet. The name beryllia was substituted for this by German chemists. The metal beryllium was first isolated independently by Bussy and Wohler by heating the anhydrous chloride with potassium. 

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