Cadmium acetate is the

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one ele ...

with the formula . The compound is marketed both as the anhydrous form and as a

dihydrate 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 underst ...

, both of which are white or colorless. Only the dihydrate has been verified 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 angle ...

Preparation, reactions, and uses

It forms by treating

cadmium oxide Cadmium oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula CdO. It is one of the main precursors to other cadmium compounds. It crystallizes in a cubic rocksalt lattice like sodium chloride, with octahedral cation and anion centers. It occurs natu ...

with

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main componen ...

: : It can also be prepared by treating

cadmium nitrate Cadmium nitrate describes any of the related members of a family of inorganic compounds with the general formula Cd(NO3)2.\mathitH2O, the most commonly encountered form being the tetrahydrate. The anhydrous form is volatile, but the others are ...

with

acetic anhydride Acetic anhydride, or ethanoic anhydride, is the chemical compound with the formula (CH3CO)2O. Commonly abbreviated Ac2O, it is the simplest isolable anhydride of a carboxylic acid and is widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is a c ...

. Cadmium acetate has few applications. By reaction with

trioctylphosphine selenide Trioctylphosphine selenide (TOPSe) is an organophosphorus compound with the formula SeP(C8H17)3. It is used as a source of selenium in the preparation of cadmium selenide. TOPSe is a white, air-stable solid that is soluble in organic solvents. ...

, it has often been used as a precursor to

cadmium selenide Cadmium selenide is an inorganic compound with the formula Cd Se. It is a black to red-black solid that is classified as a II-VI semiconductor of the n-type. Much of the current research on this compound is focused on its nanoparticles. Stru ...

and related semiconductors.

Structure of the dihydrate

Unlike the coordination geometry of zinc in

zinc diacetate Zinc acetate is a salt with the formula Zn(CH3CO2)2, which commonly occurs as the dihydrate Zn(CH3CO2)2·2H2O. Both the hydrate and the anhydrous forms are colorless solids that are used as dietary supplements. When used as a food additive, it ha ...

dihydrate, cadmium is seven coordinate in . It is a

coordination polymer A coordination polymer is an inorganic or organometallic polymer structure containing metal cation centers linked by ligands. More formally a coordination polymer is a coordination compound with repeating coordination entities extending in 1, 2, ...

, featuring acetate ligands interconnecting cadmium centers.

Safety

Cadmium compounds are considered Group 1 carcinogens by the IARC.

References

{{Acetates Cadmium compounds Acetates Coordination polymers