Nickel contact, production

Nickel is commonly ingested with food, and is found at low levels in drinking water. Elemental nickel, nickel oxide, and nickel subsulfide, may occur as a particulate or adsorbed onto other particles in ambient air. Nickel carbonyl is a highly reactive gas, with a half-life in air of 100s, and so exposure would occur only in the immediate vicinity of a release. Skin exposure may occur during contact with nickel-containing products (e.g., jewelry). 

BOS, J.D. (1992) Th1 lymphokine production profiles of nickel-specific CD4+ T lymphocyte clones from nickel contact allergic and non-allergic individuals. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 98, 59-63. 

European Committee for Standardization (CEN) (1997) Reference test method for release of nickel from products intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin... 

Caution Because tellurium compounds have toxic effects similar to those of arsenic compounds care should be taken not to bring tellurium tetrachloride and its reaction products into contact with the skin. Avoid breathing fumes and dust of tellurium compounds. In addition, hydrogen chloride is evolved in Step A, and pyrophoric Raney nickel is used in Step B. Therefore all manipulations described in this procedure must be carried out in an efficient fume hood. 

Kennett, F. A. et al., J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans., 1982, 851-857 In attempted preparation of poly(selenium nitride), the black solid formed by interaction with selenium tetrabromide in acetonitrile exploded violently within 1 min at 0°C. The solid produced from diselenium tetrachloride in acetonitrile exploded at around 100°C, and in dichloromethane the product exploded in contact with a nickel spatula. 

A solution of 10.5 g. (0.046 mol) of freshly distilled bis(tri-fluoromethyl)-l,2-dithiete (Note 2) in 200 ml. of n-pentane is cooled to —10° in a 1-1. round-bottomed flask equipped with an efficient reflux condenser and protected from moist air by a dry nitrogen blanket. A solution of 3.0 ml. (0.023 mol) of nickel carbonyl dissolved in 100 ml. of w-pentane is added down the condenser in one portion to this solution. The mixture is swirled to mix. An intense blue-violet color develops in about 15 to 20 seconds and after 1 to 2 minutes, vigorous evolution of carbon monoxide occurs. This evolution subsides in 10 minutes and the deep violet solution is allowed to warm to 0° during 2 hours to ensure complete reaction. Most of the pentane is removed by distillation at atmospheric pressure, the remaining 50 to 60 ml. is removed in vacuo (0.1 mm.), and the resultant crystalline mass is evacuated (0.1 mm.) at 50° for 4 hours. The crude product consists of shiny black-purple needles and weighs 11.8 g. (98%). Recrystallization from dry benzene (Note 3) gives shiny black crystals, m.p. 134 to 135° (sealed tube). The complex is air-stable but should be kept out of contact with moist air. 

Mercury and nickel salts form many stable complexes with biologically important molecules such as those containing sulphydryl groups Chapter 5 stresses the importance and the dangers of these being formed in the skin from topical contact. The last 10 years have been a highly fertile and productive period in the discovery of antibacterial quinolones (reviewed in Chapter 6) which inhibit target enzymes at the molecular level. 

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