Mercury(II) nitrate is an
inorganic compound with the formula Hg(NO
3)
2.xH
2O. These colorless or white
soluble
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.
The extent of the solubi ...
crystalline
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
s are occasionally used as a reagent. It is made by treating
mercury with hot concentrated
nitric acid
Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...
. Neither anhydrous nor monohydrate has been confirmed by
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
. The anhydrous material is more widely used.
Uses
Mercuric nitrate has been used in mercuration of ketones.
Mercuric nitrate was formerly used in
carroting felt for hats.
Health information
Mercury compounds are highly toxic. The use of this compound by
hatters
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
and the subsequent
mercury poisoning of said hatters is a common theory of where the phrase "
mad as a hatter" came from.
See also
*
The Hatter
The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...
*
Mercury poisoning
*
Gilding
References
External links
ATSDR - Toxic Substances Portal - Mercury(11/14/2013)
ATSDR - Public Health Statement: Mercury(11/14/2013)
(link not traceable 11/14/2013)
ATSDR - Medical Management Guidelines for Mercury(11/14/2013)
ATSDR - Toxicological Profile: Mercury(11/14/2013)
(link not traceable 11/14/2013)
* ''How to Make Good Mercury Electrical Connections'',
Popular Science monthly, February 1919, Unnumbered page, Scanned by Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=7igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT14
{{nitrates
Mercury(II) compounds
Nitrates
Oxidizing agents