Beryllium nitrate is an

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

with the

chemical formula A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...

Be( NO₃)₂. It forms a

tetrahydrate In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understo ...

with the formula e(H₂O)₄NO₃)₂.The anhydrous compound, as for many

beryllium compounds Beryllium is a chemical element; it has symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, hard, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to fo ...

, is highly

covalent A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atom ...

. Little of its chemistry is known. Both the anhydrous form and the tetrahydrate are colourless solids that are soluble in water. The anhydrous form produces brown fumes in water, and produces

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...

and

nitrite The nitrite polyatomic ion, ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name ...

ions when

hydrolyzed Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysi ...

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Solu ...

Synthesis and reactions

The straw-colored adduct Be(NO₃)₂(N₂O₄) forms upon treatment of beryllium chloride with

dinitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russian rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate commonly abbreviated EtOAc, ETAC or EA) is the organic compound with the formula , simplified to . This flammable, colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell (similar to pear drops) and is used in glues, nail polish removers, ...

: :BeCl₂ + 3N₂O₄ → Be(NO₃)₂(N₂O₄) + 2NOCl Upon heating, this adduct loses N₂O₄ and produces colorless Be(NO₃)₂. Further heating of Be(NO₃)₂ induces conversion to basic beryllium nitrate (Be₄O(NO₃)₆). Unlike the basic acetate, with its six lipophilic methyl groups, the basic nitrate is insoluble in most solvents. The tetrahydrate is produced from the reaction of

beryllium oxide Beryllium oxide (BeO), also known as beryllia, is an inorganic compound with the formula BeO. This colourless solid is an electrical insulator with a higher thermal conductivity than any other non-metal except diamond, and exceeds that of most met ...

beryllium hydroxide Beryllium hydroxide, Be(OH)2, is an amphoteric hydroxide, dissolving in both acids and alkalis. Industrially, it is produced as a by-product in the extraction of beryllium metal from the ores beryl and bertrandite. The natural pure beryllium hydro ...

with dilute

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

, followed by evaporation of the solution. The heating of the tetrahydrate does not yield the anhydrous form; instead it decomposes at 100 °C to beryllium hydroxide.

Structure

Basic beryllium nitrate adopts a structure akin to that of

basic beryllium acetate Basic beryllium acetate is the chemical compound with the formula Be4O(O2CCH3)6. This compound adopts a distinctive structure, but it has no applications and has been only lightly studied. It is a colourless solid that is soluble in organic solv ...

. The tetrahydrate consists of isolated e(H₂O)₄sup>2+ tetrahederons and nitrate anions. The structure of the anhydrous form has not been elucidated yet.

References

Beryllium compounds Nitrates {{inorganic-compound-stub