Title: Mercuric Oxide, Red
CAS Registry Number: 21908-53-2
Additional Names: Red precipitate
Molecular Formula: HgO
Molecular Weight: 216.59
Percent Composition: Hg 92.61%, O 7.39%
Literature References: Contains 99-99.5% HgO.
Properties: Bright red or orange-red, heavy, odorless, crystalline powder or scales; orthorhombic structure; yellow when finely powdered. Poisonous! Dec on exposure to light into mercury and oxygen; at 400° becomes almost black, but red again on cooling; at 500° dec into mercury and oxygen. d 11.14. Practically insol in water; sol in dil HCl or HNO3 or in solns of alkali cyanides or iodides, slowly in solns of alkali bromides; insol in alcohol. Protect from light.
Density: d 11.14
Use: In marine bottom paints, diluting pigments for painting on porcelain, with graphite as depolarizer in dry batteries. In Kjeldahl nitrogen determination; and as reagent for citric acid, thiophene, glucose, aldehyde, urea, acetone. As reagent and catalyst in organic reactions: J. S. Pizey, Synthetic Reagents vol. 1 (John Wiley, New York, 1974) pp 295-319.
Therap-Cat: Antiseptic (topical).
Therap-Cat-Vet: Has been used as a topical antiseptic. |