Exercise 38. Beryllium Basic Acetate

If materials are available, it is most instructive to prepare this unique compound. While usually given the name and formula of a basic salt, none of its properties agrees with this classification. It melts sharply at 285° and boils undecomposed at 330°. It is undoubtedly a highly coordinated compound, with the extra oxygen atom as the center of coordination. 

Dissolve about 10 g. of commercial beryllium hydroxide or carbonate in acetic acid and evaporate to dryness on the hot plate. Dissolve the dry residue in boiling glacial acetic acid and set aside for crystallization. The salt is deposited in small colorless octahedra. These should be drained on a Witte plate and dried on paper. The salt is decomposed by wat er. 

Topic Coordination valence, Sidgwick, The Electronic Theory of Valency, (1929). 

Additional Exercises Zinc basic acetate, Zn40(CsHa02)6, Auger and Robin, Compt. rend., 178, 1546 (1924). 

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