Selenous acid

Selenates are poisonous, selenic acid, H2Se04. See selenium oxyacids. 

Selenic acid, H2Se04. Formed by oxidation of selenates(IV) (CI2, Mn04 ). A strong acid similar to H2SO4 but loses O2 on heating. 

Tellurium trioxide, TeOa, is an orange yellow powder made by thermal decomposition of telluric(VI) acid Te(OH)g. It is a strong oxidising agent which will, like H2Se04, oxidise hydrogen chloride to chlorine. It dissolves in hot water to give telluric(VI) acid. This is a weak acid and quite different from sulphuric and selenic acids. Two series of salts are known. 

The two absorption bands, at 1050 and 1400 cm , which appear in the Raman spectra of solutions of nitric acid in concentrated sulphuric acid are not attributable to either of the acid molecules. In oleum the lower band appears at 1075-1095 cm. That these bands seemed to correspond to those in the spectra of anhydrous nitric acid and solid dinitrogen pentoxide caused some confusion in the assignment of the spectrum. The situation was resolved by examining the Raman spectra of solutions of nitric acid in perchloric or selenic acids , in which the strong absorption at 1400 cm is not accompanied by absorption at about 1050 cm . Thus, the band at 1400 cm arises from the nitronium ion, and the band at about 1050 cm can be attributed in the cases of nitric acid and solid dinitrogen pentoxide to the nitrate ion formed according to the following schemes ... 

HOONO peroxonitrous acid H2Se04 selenic acid... 

Selenosulfate reacts with ethyleneknine ia the same way as thiosulfate to give 2-ainiQoethaiieselenosulfuric acid. However, the reaction of ethyleneimine using selenous acid does not yield a stable product (137). 

Acid mixtures containing nitric acid and a strong acid, eg, sulfuric acid, perchloric acid, selenic acid, hydrofluoric acid, boron trifluoride, or an ion-exchange resin containing sulfonic acid groups, can be used as the nitrating feedstock for ionic nitrations. These strong acids are catalysts that result in the formation of nitronium ions, NO" 2- Sulfuric acid is almost always used industrially since it is both effective and relatively inexpensive. 

Selenium trioxide, SeO, is white, crystalline, and hygroscopic. It can be prepared by the action of sulfur trioxide on potassium selenate or of phosphorous pentoxide on selenic acid. It forms selenic acid when dissolved in water. The pure trioxide is soluble in a number of organic solvents. A solution in Hquid sulfur dioxide is a selenonating agent. It is stable in very dry atmospheres at room temperature and on heating it decomposes first to selenium pentoxide [12293-89-9] and then to selenium dioxide. 

Comprehensive accounts of the various gravimetric, polarographic, spectrophotometric, and neutron activation analytical methods have been pubHshed (1,2,5,17,19,65—67). Sampling and analysis of biological materials and organic compounds is treated in References 60 and 68. Many analytical methods depend on the conversion of selenium in the sample to selenous acid, H2Se02, and reduction to elemental selenium when a gravimetric deterrnination is desired. 

A number of substances, such as the most commonly used sulfur dioxide, can reduce selenous acid solution to an elemental selenium precipitate. This precipitation separates the selenium from most elements and serves as a basis for gravimetry. In a solution containing both selenous and teUurous acids, the selenium may be quantitatively separated from the latter by performing the reduction in a solution which is 8 to 9.5 W with respect to hydrochloric acid. When selenic acid may also be present, the addition of hydroxylamine hydrochloride is recommended along with the sulfur dioxide. A simple method for the separation and deterrnination of selenium(IV) and molybdenum(VI) in mixtures, based on selective precipitation with potassium thiocarbonate, has been developed (69). 

The hberated iodine is titrated with standard sodium thiosulfate solution. In the thiosulfate method, selenous acid is treated with an excess of standard sodium thiosulfate solution ... 

Contact with elemental selenium does not injure the skin. Selenium dioxide, however, upon contact with water, sweat, or tears, forms selenous acid, a severe skin irritant. Selenium oxyhaHdes are extremely vesicant and cause bums when in contact with human skin (91,92). Hydrogen selenide affects the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes (93). 

Chromium Plating. Sodium selenate or selenic acid are added to chromium-plating baths to improve corrosion protection from pitting. 

In mineral technology, sulfur dioxide and sulfites are used as flotation depressants for sulfide ores. In electrowinning of copper from leach solutions from ores containing iron, sulfur dioxide prereduces ferric to ferrous ions to improve current efficiency and copper cathode quaHty. Sulfur dioxide also initiates precipitation of metallic selenium from selenous acid, a by-product of copper metallurgy (326). 

Nitrohydrochloric acid Perchloric acid Phenosulphonic acid Phosphorus pentoxide Propionic acid Selenic acid Spent acids Sulphamic acid Sulphuric acid and oleum (fuming sulphuric acid) Sulphurous acid Thioglycolic acid Trichloroacetic acid... 

Chemical Reactivity - Reactivity with Water Reacts vigorously with water forming selenic acid solution Reactivity with Common Materials Corrodes all metals in the presence of water Stability During Transport Stable Neutralizing Agents for Acids and Caustics Flush with water and rinse with dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate or soda ash Polymerization Not pertinent Inhibitor of Polymerization Not pertinent. 

Oxidative rearrangement of 5a-cholestan-3-one (62) with hydrogen peroxide and a catalytic amount of selenic acid affords 2a-carboxy-A-nor-5a-cholestane, isolated in about 35 % yield as the methyl ester (63)." However, the reaction gives a complex mixture of A-nor- and seco-acids, and under... 

Separation of Se and Te can also be achieved by neutralizing the alkaline selenite and tellurite leach with H2SO4 this precipitates the tellurium as a hydrous dioxide and leaves the more acidic selenous acid, H2Se03, in solution from which 99.5% pure Se can be precipitated by S02 ... 

Selenous acid, 0=Se(0H)2, i.e. H2Se03, and tellurous acid, H2Te03, are white solids which can readily be dehydrated to the dioxide (e.g. in a stream of dry air). H2Se03 is best prepared by slow crystallization of an aqueous solution of Se02 or by oxidation of powdered Se with dilute nitric acid ... 

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