Nomenclature
CAS number: 7784-42-1
Arsenic trihydride; hydrogen arsenide.
AsH
3; mol wt 77.95.
As 96.11%, H 3.88%.
Description and references
Prepn: Wendt,
Landauer, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 42, 930 (1920); Jolly, Drake, Inorg. Synth. 7, 41 (1963); Schenk in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic
Chemistry vol 1, G. Brauer, Ed. (Academic Press,
New York, 2nd ed., 1963) pp 593-595. Toxicity: Doig, Lancet 2, 88 (1958); Vallee et al., Arch. Ind. Health 21, 132 (1960).
Properties
Colorless, neutral gas. Disagreeable garlic odor.
Flammable, poisonous. mp 117°. bp 62.5°. Dissociation pressure
at 0° = 0.806 atm. Decomposes when heated at 300°, depositing arsenic
which volatilizes at 400°. On exposure to light, moist arsine decomposes
quickly depositing shiny black arsenic. Slightly sol in water. Aq
solns are neutral. Traces are best removed by absorption in potassium
permanganate soln or in bromine water.Caution
Potential symptoms of overexposure
are headache, malaise, weakness and dizziness; dyspnea; abdominal
and back pain; nausea, vomiting; bronze skin; hematuria; jaundice;
peripheral neuropathy; direct contact with liquid may cause frostbite.
Potential occupational carcinogen. See NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (DHHS/NIOSH
97-140, 1997) p 20.