Hydrogen chloride

Hydrogen compounds: hydrogen chloride

The hydrogen in hydrogen chloride formally is in the oxidation state 1.

Hydrogen chloride

• Formula as often written: HCl
• Hill system formula: Cl₁H₁
• CAS registry number: [7647-01-0]
• Formula weight: 36.461
• Class: chloride

Synonyms

• hydrogen chloride
• hydrogen(I) chloride
• hyrochloric acid
• muriatic acid
• spirits of salt

Physical properties

• Colour: colourless
• Appearance: gas
• Melting point: -114.2°C
• Boiling point: -85.1°C
• Density: 1187 kg m^-3 (at freezing point)

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Element analysis

Element percentages for the elements in hydrogen chloride

Element	%
Cl	97.24
H	2.76

Synthesis

Hydrogen chloride gas may be made in the laboratory by the reaction of concentrated sulphuric acid upon sodium chloride or by the by the reaction of concentrated sulphuric acid upon concentrated hydrochloric acid. In the latter case this involves adding hydrochloric acid to sulphuric acid and collecting the evolved hydrogen chloride gas. The yield is around 80%.

NaCl(s) + H₂SO₄ → HCl(g) + NaHSO₄(s)

HCl(aq) + H₂SO₄ → HCl(g) + H₂SO₄(aq)

The first of these routes is used in industry, where temperatures of about 150°C are used. Crude hydrogen chloride gas is an important byproduct of the organic chemicals industries.

Solid state structure

• Geometry of hydrogen: 1 coordinate: terminus
• Prototypical structure:

Isotope pattern

What follows is the calculated isotope pattern for the HCl unit with the most intense ion set to 100%.

Formula: H₁Cl₁

mass  %
36 100.0 __________________________________________________
37   0.0 
38  32.0 ________________
39   0.0 

References

The data on these compounds pages are assembled and adapted from the primary literature and several other sources including the following.

• R.T. Sanderson in Chemical Periodicity, Reinhold, New York, USA, 1960.
• N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.
• F.A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C.A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann, in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
• A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, (ed.) in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1973.
• R.W.G. Wyckoff, in Crystal Structures, volume 1, Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 1963.
• A.R.West in Basic solid state chemistry Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
• A.F. Wells in Structural inorganic chemistry, 4th edition, Oxford, UK, 1975.
• J.D.H. Donnay, (ed.) in Crystal data determinative tables, ACA monograph number 5, American Crystallographic Association, USA, 1963.
• D.R. Lide, (ed.) in Chemical Rubber Company handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 77th edition, 1996.
• J.W. Mellor in A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry, volumes 1-16, Longmans, London, UK, 1922-1937.
• J.E. Macintyre (ed.) in Dictionary of inorganic compounds, volumes 1-3, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1992.

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Hydrogen	Hydrogène
Wasserstoff	Waterstof
Idrogeno	Hidrógeno
Väte	Hidrogênio