1617. Cadmium Chloride

Nomenclature

CAS number: 10108-64-2
Cadmium chloride (CdCl2); Caddy (Cleary); Vi-Cad (Vineland).
CdCl2; mol wt 183.32.
Cd 61.32%, Cl 38.68%.

Description and references

Prepn: Gmelins, Cadmium (8th ed.) 33, pp 82-83 (1925); supplement, pp 464-465 (1959); Pray, Inorg. Synth. 5, 153 (1957). Book: Cadmium in the Environment, Part I: Ecological Cycling, J. O. Nriagu, Ed. (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1980) 696 pp. Crystal structure of hemipentahydrate: H. Leligny, J. C. Monier, Acta Crystallogr. B31, 728 (1975). Evaluation of carcinogenic risk: IARC Monographs 58, 119-237 (1993).

Properties

Hygroscopic, rhombohedral crystals. mp 568°; bp 960°; d 4.05. Freely sol in water; sol in acetone; slightly sol in methanol, ethanol. Practically insol in ether. LD50 orally in rats: 88 mg/kg (Nriagu).

Derivative

Hemipentahydrate.

Nomenclature

CAS number: 7790-78-5
CdCl2.2 1/2 H2O; mol wt 228.36.
Cd 49.23%, Cl 31.05%, H 2.21%, O 17.52%.

Properties

Efflorescent granules or rhombohedral leaflets. d20 2.84. Freely sol in water.

Caution

Cadmium and cadmium compounds are listed as known human carcinogens: Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition (PB2005-104914, 2004) p III-42.

Use

Photography; dyeing and calico printing; in the vacuum tube industry; manuf of cadmium yellow; galvanoplasty; manuf of special mirrors; as ice-nucleating agent; as lubricant; in analysis of sulfides to absorb the H2S; in testing for pyridine bases; as fungicide; in pyrotechnics; in electroplating.