Nickel formate is the
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...
salt of
formic acid
Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid. It has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . This acid is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some an ...
with the chemical formula Ni(HCOO)
2.
Synthesis and structure
Nickel formate can be obtained by reacting
nickel(II) acetate or
nickel(II) hydroxide with formic acid.
:Ni(OH)
2 + 2HCOOH → Ni(HCOO)
2 + 2 H
2O
Nickel formate can also be synthesized by the reaction of
sodium formate
Sodium formate, HCOONa, is the sodium salt of formic acid, HCOOH. It usually appears as a white deliquescent powder.
Preparation
For commercial use, sodium formate is produced by absorbing carbon monoxide under pressure in solid sodium hydroxide ...
with
nickel (II) sulphate.
Characteristics
As a dihydrate, nickel formate is a green, odorless, non-flammable solid that is sparingly soluble in water.
The compound has a
monoclinic
In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three Vector (geometric), vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in t ...
crystal structure.
The anhydride forms on careful heating at 130–140 °C.
When heated in a vacuum to 300 °C, pure nickel is formed:
:
Such fine powders are useful as
hydrogenation
Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or Saturated ...
catalysts.
[Werner Reutemann and Heinz Kieczka "Formic Acid" in ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'' 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. ]
Use
Nickel formate is used in the production of nickel and other nickel compounds such as nickel catalysts.
References
{{reflist
Formates
Nickel compounds