Beryllium hydrate

Effects of heat on the crystalline and colloidal beryllium hydrate. 

The small lithium Li" and beryllium Be ions have high charge-radius ratios and consequently exert particularly strong attractions on other ions and on polar molecules. These attractions result in both high lattice and hydration energies and it is these high energies which account for many of the abnormal properties of the ionic compounds of lithium and beryllium. 

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 Nitrate. BeryUium nitrate tetrahydrate [13516-48-0], Be(N02)2 4H2O, is prepared by crystallization from a solution of beryUium hydroxide or beryllium oxide carbonate in a slight excess of dilute nitric acid. After dissolution is complete, the solution is poured into plastic bags and cooled to room temperature. The crystallization is started by seeding. Crystallization from more concentrated acids yields crystals with less water of hydration. On heating above 100°C, beryllium nitrate decomposes with simultaneous loss of water and oxides of nitrogen. Decomposition is complete above 250°C. 

Anhydrous beryllium halides cannot be obtained from reactions in aqueous solutions because of the formation of hydrates such as [Be(H20)4]F2 and the subsequent hydrolysis which attends attempted dehydration. Thermal decomposition of (NH4)2Bep4 is the best route for BeFr, and BeCl2 is conveniently made from the oxide... 

Compounds of beryllium and aluminum are substantially covalent as a result of the high charge -to-size ratio, which causes polarization of anions and very high heats of hydration of the ions ( —2487kJ mol-1 for Be2+ and — 4690kJ mol-1 for Al3+). 

Although beryllium and magnesium salts do not form stable mctal-ammines yet they unite with ammonia, forming additive compounds of the hydrate type which are sometimes referred to as ammoniates or ammonio-compounds. These appear to be of the same type as the metal-anunines, and the difference seems to be merely one of stability. The ammonio-compounds are formed by the addition of ammonia gas to dry or fused salt, and most of them decompose with liberation of ammonia when dissolved in water. 

The study of coordination compounds of the lanthanides dates in any practical sense from around 1950, the period when ion-exchange methods were successfully applied to the problem of the separation of the individual lanthanides,131-133 a problem which had existed since 1794 when J. Gadolin prepared mixed rare earths from gadolinite, a lanthanide iron beryllium silicate. Until 1950, separation of the pure lanthanides had depended on tedious and inefficient multiple crystallizations or precipitations, which effectively prevented research on the chemical properties of the individual elements through lack of availability. However, well before 1950, many principal features of lanthanide chemistry were clearly recognized, such as the predominant trivalent state with some examples of divalency and tetravalency, ready formation of hydrated ions and their oxy salts, formation of complex halides,134 and the line-like nature of lanthanide spectra.135... 

Beryllium fluoride. [CAS 7787-49-7], BeF2, is readily soluble in water, dissolving in its own water of hydration as BeFo 2H2O. The compound cannot be crystallized from solution and is prepared by thermal decomposition of ammonium fluoberyllate. (NH BeF ... 

Cellulose is insol in w, ale, eth all known simple org solvs. The best solv for it is cuprammonium hydroxide, [Cu(NH3)4(OH)2], also called Schweitzer s Reagent. It is also sol in a coned soln of Ca thiocyanate alone or in combination with formaldehyde. Other solvs gelatinizers for cellulose include zinc chloride (in 40% soln on heating), basic beryllium perchlorate, 84% phosphoric acid, selenic acid, arsenic acid, sulfurous acid, 66% HBr, 70-75% HF, coned HI, chloral with pyridine, chloral hydrate in H2S04, and inorg salts(such as NaCl) in coned solns at high temps. Coned solns of NaOH at ca -10° only partially dissolve cellulose while the remainder is swelled "mercerized . 

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