Hydrogen cyanide characteristics

With this as background let us now examine how the principles of nucleophilic addition apply to the characteristic reactions of aldehydes and ketones We 11 begin with the addition of hydrogen cyanide... 

Observable Characteristics - Physical State (as shipped) Solid Color White Odor Like hydrogen cyanide almond-like. 

Water is mainly used in heat exchanger segments of units and as wash water for the equipment. Leaks and spills water is also used in the scrubber and the distillation unit the resulting wastewater contains ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and small amounts of organic nitriles. Scrubber purging is employed in order to avoid the buildup of impurities in other sources of wastewater in the plant. General plant wash water and rainfall runoff collectively contribute to the volume and characteristics of the wastewater in this plant. 

Characteristic Hydrogen cyanide Sodium cyanide Potassium cyanide Calcium cyanide... 

A good deal of information is obtainable by acidifying the samples with dilute mineral acids and observing the reaction, first at room temperature and then after gentle application of heat. Bicarbonates, carbonates, cyanides, hypochlorites, nitrates, and nitrites yield characteristic gases following such treatment. Care must be exercised when cyanide intoxication is suspected as hydrogen cyanide may be evolved. 

Both the hydroxy aldehydes or aldehyde alcohols and the hydroxy ketones or ketone alcohols undergo the characteristic aldehyde and ketone reactions due to the carbonyl group. They react with hydrogen cyanide, phenyl hydrazine and hydroxyl amine. These reactions have been discussed in connection with the aldehydes (pp. 116, 224) and will be considered again when we study the carbohydrates. The carbohydrates in fact belong here with these hydroxy aldehyde and hydroxy ketone compounds but on account of other relations they are better considered at a later time. 

By the reaction with hydrogen cyanide, HCN, forming cyan-hydrines, which are acid nitriles, with hydroxyl amine, H2NOH, forming oximes, and with phenyl hydrazine, H2N—NH—CeHs, forming hydrazones, all of which reactions are characteristic of the carbonyl group, carbohydrates in water solution are aldehyde or ketone compounds. 

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