Mercury (II) chloride

Structural formula
General
Surname	Mercury (II) chloride
other names	sublimate; Hydrargyri dichloridum;
Molecular formula	HgCl 2
Brief description	colorless and odorless solid
External identifiers / databases
EC number	231-299-8
ECHA InfoCard	100.028.454
PubChem	24085
ChemSpider	22517
DrugBank	DB13765
Wikidata	Q143200
properties
Molar mass	271.50 g mol −1
Physical state	firmly
density	5.4 g cm −3
Melting point	277 ° C
boiling point	304 ° C
Vapor pressure	10 m Pa (20 ° C)
solubility	moderate in water (74 g l −1 , at 20 ° C)
safety instructions
H and P phrases	H: 341-361f-300-310-372-314-410
	P: 201-280-301 + 310-330-303 + 361 + 353-304 + 340-310-305 + 351 + 338
MAK	0.1 mg m −3
Toxicological data	1 mg kg −1 ( LD Lo , human , oral ) ; 1 mg kg −1 ( LD 50 , rat , oral ) ; 41 mg kg −1 ( LD 50 , rat , transdermal ) ;
	As far as possible and customary, SI units are used. Unless otherwise noted, the data given apply to standard conditions .

Mercury (II) chloride or sublimate is a chemical compound from the group of chlorides .

properties

Mercury (II) chloride is a colorless, crystalline, moderately water-soluble, very toxic molecular compound that melts at 281 ° C. Since it sublimes easily when heated , it is known as a sublimate : the boiling point at 302 ° C can hardly be observed. In the crystalline state, in the vapor phase and in solution, mercury (II) chloride is present in the form of covalently bound , linear Cl − Hg − Cl molecules. In aqueous solution the molecules dissociate only slightly into ions , so a solution hardly conducts the electric current. Mercury (II) chloride is quite soluble in comparison to other halides such as mercury (II) iodide , which are only soluble in traces in water.

Aquaporins - channel proteins through which water can pass a biomembrane - are specifically inhibited by mercury (II) chloride or mercury (II) ions.

presentation

Mercury (II) chloride is formed when mercury (II) sulfate is heated with sodium chloride and sublimes as a highly volatile component.

{\ displaystyle \ mathrm {HgSO_ {4} +2 \ NaCl \ longrightarrow HgCl_ {2} + Na_ {2} SO_ {4}}}

The reaction of mercury (I) chloride with chlorine or of mercury (II) oxide with hydrochloric acid or even directly from the elements mercury and chlorine in heated retorts results in mercury (II) chloride.

The reaction of hydrochloric acid with mercury (I) compounds (e.g. mercury (I) nitrate ) is also possible

{\ displaystyle \ mathrm {Hg_ {2} (NO_ {3}) _ {2} +4 \ HCl \ longrightarrow 2 \ HgCl_ {2} +2 \ H_ {2} O + 2 \ NO_ {2}}}

use

Mercury (II) chloride has a fungicidal effect , which is why it was previously used for the dressing of seeds and for the impregnation of wood ( kyanization ). Since it also has an antiseptic effect, it was used as a disinfectant for wounds and as an alternative to carbolic acid in operations and (also combined with alcohol) for the hygienic disinfection of hands and forearms before surgical interventions. In strong dilution, it was even used as a medicinal substance and, like calomel, was used as a drug administered under the skin for syphilis.

The French anatomist François Chaussier (1746–1828) was able to prove that mercury (II) chloride protects a corpse from rotting and promotes its dehydration. With this he achieved a significant advance in the field of corpse conservation . Due to its fixing effect, it was used as a preservative for anatomical specimens until around 1900 . Due to its long-known toxicity, however, other substances are used today.

In corpse preservation, too, the sole use of mercury (II) chloride and other metal compounds was abandoned when it was noticed that metal precipitated out of the solution and left disfiguring stains on corpses treated in this way. In addition, mercury (II) chloride caused the skin to turn gray.

Mercury (II) chloride is a component of etchants for steel and copper etching, a catalyst in synthetic chemistry (for example in the production of vinyl chloride ) and is also used as a depolarizer in dry batteries.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e data sheet mercury (II) chloride (PDF) from Merck , accessed on April 24, 2010.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Entry on mercury (II) chloride in the GESTIS substance database of the IFA , accessed on December 19, 2017(JavaScript required) .
↑ Entry on Mercury dichloride in the Classification and Labeling Inventory of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), accessed on February 1, 2016. Manufacturers or distributors can expand the harmonized classification and labeling .
^ AF Holleman , E. Wiberg , N. Wiberg : Textbook of Inorganic Chemistry . 91st – 100th, improved and greatly expanded edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-11-007511-3 .
↑ Ulrich Welsch, Thomas Delle: Textbook Histology . 3rd edition, Urban & Fischer Verlag / Elsevier GmbH, 2010, ISBN 978-3-437-44431-9 , page 19.
↑ Otto Schmidt: Contribution to the question of the use of the sublimate in laparotomies. In: Centralblatt für Gynäkologie. Volume 10, No. 15, April 10, 1886, pp. 227-229; Robert Goat Bacon: Sublimate. Ibid. No. 34, August 21, 1886, pp. 546-561.
↑ Hans Killian : There is only God behind us. Sub umbra dei. A surgeon remembers. Kindler, Munich 1957; here: Licensed edition as Herder paperback (= Herder library. Volume 279). Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-451-01779-2 , p. 42.
↑ ^a ^b H. Hager, Fv Bruchhausen, P. Surmann, E. Nuremberg: Hagers Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice. Springer Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-540-52641-2 , p. 472.
↑ Emil Stern: About the mercury chloride-chlorosodium and its subcutaneous use. In: Berlin clinical weekly. Volume 15, 1878, pp. 59-64.
↑ ^a ^b Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water: The beautiful death. Ceremonial structures of the Viennese court in death and burial between 1640 and 1740. Freiburg / Vienna 1989, pp. 203–211 (on "The methods of embalming from ancient times to modern times").
↑ See, for example, Carl Fleischmann: Fatal sublimate poisoning after two vaginal irrigation. In: Centralblatt für Gynäkologie. Volume 10, No. 47, November 20, 1886, pp. 761-765.

literature

Brockhaus ABC Chemie (VEB FA Brockhaus Verlag, Leipzig, 1971), pp. 1159-1160.
Friedrich Moll: Great men of wood impregnation technology. In: Angewandte Chemie 1930, 43, pp. 830-834.

[Merck-SDB-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e data sheet mercury (II) chloride (PDF) from Merck , accessed on April 24, 2010.

[GESTIS-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Entry on mercury (II) chloride in the GESTIS substance database of the IFA , accessed on December 19, 2017(JavaScript required) .

[CLP_100.028.454-3] Entry on Mercury dichloride in the Classification and Labeling Inventory of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), accessed on February 1, 2016. Manufacturers or distributors can expand the harmonized classification and labeling .

[4] AF Holleman , E. Wiberg , N. Wiberg : Textbook of Inorganic Chemistry . 91st – 100th, improved and greatly expanded edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-11-007511-3 .

[5] Ulrich Welsch, Thomas Delle: Textbook Histology . 3rd edition, Urban & Fischer Verlag / Elsevier GmbH, 2010, ISBN 978-3-437-44431-9 , page 19.

[6] Otto Schmidt: Contribution to the question of the use of the sublimate in laparotomies. In: Centralblatt für Gynäkologie. Volume 10, No. 15, April 10, 1886, pp. 227-229; Robert Goat Bacon: Sublimate. Ibid. No. 34, August 21, 1886, pp. 546-561.

[7] Hans Killian : There is only God behind us. Sub umbra dei. A surgeon remembers. Kindler, Munich 1957; here: Licensed edition as Herder paperback (= Herder library. Volume 279). Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-451-01779-2 , p. 42.

[Hager-8] H. Hager, Fv Bruchhausen, P. Surmann, E. Nuremberg: Hagers Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice. Springer Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-540-52641-2 , p. 472.

[9] Emil Stern: About the mercury chloride-chlorosodium and its subcutaneous use. In: Berlin clinical weekly. Volume 15, 1878, pp. 59-64.

[Hawlik1989-10] Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water: The beautiful death. Ceremonial structures of the Viennese court in death and burial between 1640 and 1740. Freiburg / Vienna 1989, pp. 203–211 (on "The methods of embalming from ancient times to modern times").

[11] See, for example, Carl Fleischmann: Fatal sublimate poisoning after two vaginal irrigation. In: Centralblatt für Gynäkologie. Volume 10, No. 47, November 20, 1886, pp. 761-765.