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Sodium acetate

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--> Sodium acetate

General
Chemical formula 3
Appearance white solid
CAS number 127-09-3 (anhydrous)
6131-90-4 (trihydrate)
Physical
Molecular weight 82.034 amu (136.080 for trihydrate)
Melting point decomposes at 597 K
(324 °C)
Boiling point n/a
Density 1.45 g/cm³
Crystal structure orthorhombic
Solubility 76 g/100 g of water
Thermochemistry
ΔfH0gas -?
ΔfH0liquid ?
ΔfH0solid ?
S0gas, 1 bar ?
S0liquid, 1 bar ?
S0solid ?
Safety
Ingestion Large doses may cause abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
Inhalation May cause irritation, with symptoms of coughing, sore throat, labored breathing, and chest pain.
Skin May cause irritation (redness and/or pain).
Eyes Chronic exposure may cause irritation, redness and pain.
SI units and standard conditions used unless otherwise stated.
[Chemical infoboxesDisclaimer and references]
Sodium acetate, also known as sodium ethanoate, is used in a number of industries:

The last usage is seen in consumer heating pads. When these pads are solid, they are composed of sodium acetate trihydrate, or hydrated crystals of sodium acetate. If the solid is heated to the boiling point of water, the water molecules will be released from the crystals. This freed water can then dissolve the sodium acetate. After cooling, the sodium acetate remains dissolved even though the solution is supersaturated.

This means that the energy that was required to release the water molecules from the crystals and dissolve the sodium acetate into that water still remains in the system even though the temperature has dropped. The clicking of a disk within the pad triggers the crystallization of the sodium acetate trihydrate. When the crystals form, the energy that was required to initially dissolve them is then released. This release of energy raises the temperature to 54°C. For the above reasons, this is technically not a demonstration of the heat that is released during a phase change. It is an exothermic chemical reaction. The process is theoretically repeatable indefinitely, although the containing pouch will eventually break in practice. [link] [link]

Reactions

Sodium acetate can be used as a reagent to form an ester using an alkyl halide such as bromoethane.

H3C-COO- Na+ + Br-CH2-CH3H3C-COO-CH2-CH3 + NaBr

Synthesis of sodium acetate

Sodium acetate can be obtained easily by the reaction of acetic acid with sodium bicarbonate.

H3C-COOH + Na+[HCO3]- → H3C-COO- Na+ + H2CO3

The resulting carbonic acid decomposes quickly to carbon dioxide and water so the equilibrium is pushed to the right. This is the well-known "fizzing" reaction between baking soda and vinegar. By subsequently boiling off most of the water, one can refine either a concentrated solution of sodium acetate or actual crystals. However (like most reactions) the baking soda and vinegar must be combined in exact proportions to avoid excess acid or bicarbonate in the final product if preparing a solution. For preparing crystals, if there is an excess of acetic acid, the acetic acid would be easily driven off, but not an excess of sodium bicarbonate.

See also

External links

 


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