Sodium tetrachloroaurate 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 ...

NaAuCl₄. It is composed of the ions Na⁺ and AuCl₄⁻. It exists in the anhydrous and dihydrate states. At room temperature, it exists as a golden-orange solid. The anhydrous and dihydrate forms are available commercially. __TOC__

Preparation

The conventional method of preparation of sodium tetrachloroaurate involves the addition of tetrachloroauric acid solution to

sodium chloride Sodium chloride , commonly known as Salt#Edible salt, edible salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. It is transparent or translucent, brittle, hygroscopic, and occurs a ...

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...

to form a mixture. The mixture is stirred at 100 °C, and then subjected to evaporation, cooling,

crystallization Crystallization is a process that leads to solids with highly organized Atom, atoms or Molecule, molecules, i.e. a crystal. The ordered nature of a crystalline solid can be contrasted with amorphous solids in which atoms or molecules lack regu ...

, and drying to obtain the orange crystals of sodium tetrachloroaurate. : : However, more efficient preparation methods have been discovered recently. These are the addition of gold with sodium oxy-halogen salts and hydrochloric acid.

Uses

It is used in a wide range of applications. For example, it is used as a

catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

for the hydrochlorination of

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

, or the

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

sulfide Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families o ...

References

{{Sodium compounds Gold(III) compounds Inorganic compounds Chlorometallates Aurates Gold–halogen compounds