Ferric chloride CAS#7705-08-0

Ferric chloride CAS#7705-08-0

Ferric chloride, solution appears as a colorless to light brown aqueous solution that has a faint hydrochloric acid odor. Highly corrosive to most metals and probably corrosive to tissue. Noncombustible. Used in sewage treatment and water purification.
Ferric chloride is an dark brown hexagonal crystals; hygroscopic; density 2.898g/cm3; melts at 306°C; decomposes at 315°C; highly soluble in water (74.4g/100g water at 0°C); very soluble in alcohol, ether and acetone. The hexahydrate is brownish-yellow crystalline mass; deliquesces; melts at 37°C; vaporizes around 280°C; highly soluble in water (92g/100g water at 20°C); very soluble in organic solvents such as ethanol, ether and acetone.

Ferric chloride (iron(IH)chloride, FeCl3, CAS No. 7705-08-0) may be prepared from iron and chlorine or from ferric oxide and hydrogen chloride. The pure material occurs as hydroscopic, hexagonal, dark crystals. Ferric chloride hexahydrate (iron(III)chloride hexahydrate, FeCl3*6H2O, CAS No. 10025-77-1) is readily formed when ferric chloride is exposed to moisture.

Ferric chloride is an orange to brown-black solid. Ferric chloride is slightly soluble in water. Ferric chloride is noncombustible. When wet Ferric chloride is corrosive to aluminum and most metals. Pick up and remove spilled solid before adding water. Ferric chloride is used to treat sewage, industrial waste, to purify water, as an etching agent for engraving circuit boards, and in the manufacture of other chemicals.

Application of Ferric chloride 

In the laboratory, anhydrous Ferric chloride（FeCl3）can be used as an alternative to anhydrous AlCl3 in Friedel-Crafts reactions, like the alkylation or acylation of aromatic rings. Being a small, highly charged metal, it polarises reagents like halogenoalkanes (alkyl halides), which generates carbocations (carbenium ions) that then attack benzene rings, as in the synthesis here.

The following list represents some of the most common and largest applications of Ferric Chloride:
As a purifying agent in water supply and as a coagulant in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. In this application, Ferric chloride’s rapid hydrolysis in water makes it an ideal flocculating and precipitating agent. The ferric hydroxide (Fe[OH]3) produced forms flocs (small clumps or tufts) that adsorb suspended particles of various materials (e.g., colloids, clays and bacteria). The clumps, with the adsorbed matter, are then allowed to settle for easy removal. Ferric chloride forms precipitates with hydrogen sulfide (H2S), phosphate (PO4), arsenic as arsenate (AsO4) and hydroxide alkalinity (OH).
As an oxidant in indigo blue dyestuff production.
As an etching medium in producing printed circuit boards (PCBs).
As a catalyst for the reaction of ethylene with chlorine, forming ethylene dichloride (1,2-dichloroethane), an important commodity chemical, which is mainly used for the industrial production of vinyl chloride, the monomer for making PVC.

Ferric chloride (FeCl3) is obtained by an iron chlorination method at a temperature of 600–700 °C. Very limited data are available on the use of ferric chloride in the mineral processing industry. Ferric chloride has a depressing effect on barite and can be used in barite–celestite separation. It was also evaluated as a depressant during niobium– zirconium separation. In general, ferric and ferrous compounds are not selective depressants and in many cases are detrimental for flotation of oxidic and industrial minerals as in the case of anionic flotation, fatty acid, iron complexes or oleate iron complexes.

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