75-47-8

Bright yellow or yellow powder or crystals. Penetrating odor. Unctuous touch. Odor threshold 0.4 ppb.

IODOFORM(75-47-8) decomposes at high temperatures. Decomposes slowly in light at room temperature. Reacts violently with lithium. Is incompatible with mercuric oxide, calomel, silver nitrate, tannin, and balsam Peru. Is also incompatible with strong bases, strong oxidizing agents and magnesium. Vigorous reactions occur with acetone in the presence of solid potassium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide, hexamethylenetetramine at 352° F, mercury(I) fluoride and finely divided reduced silver.

Insoluble in water.

Irritant. Decomposes violently at 400F (204C).

Literature sources indicate that this chemical is nonflammable.

Iodoform is a yellow or greenish-yellow powder or crystalline solid that is volatile with steam and contains 96.69% iodine. It has a very characteristic pungent odor. An odor threshold of 0.005 ppm has been reported.

yellow solid with a characteristic pungent and

Iodoform has limited use as a chemical intermediate and for medicinal purposes as disinfectant and antiseptic and has been used in veterinary medicine.

It is used as a topical anti-infective, applied to the skin.

Triiodomethane is a crystalline compound commonly used as a disinfectant. It can be used in the process of removing heavy metals such as mercury from fuids.

A yellow crystalline compound made by warming ethanal with an alkaline solution of an iodide:
CH₃CHO + 3I^– + 4OH^– → CHI₃ +
HCOO^– + 3H₂O
The reaction also occurs with all ketones of general formula CH₃COR (R is an alkyl group) and with secondary alcohols CH₃CH(OH)R. Iodoform is used as a test for such reactions (the iodoform reaction).

Iodoform causes central nervous system depression and damage to the kidneys, liver, and heart.

Iodoform is an iodine containing compound, which is used in antiseptic applications in the medical and veterinary medicine fields. Iodoform improves fermentation in the biomass ensilage conversion system by improving lactic acid production and inhibiting butyric fermentation.

Iodoform has been included in the NCI daily bioassay program. According to their summary: the high and low time-weighted average daily dosages of iodoform were, respectively, 142 and 71 mg/kg for male rats, 55 and 27 mg/kg for female rats, and 93 and 47 mg/kg for male and female mice. A significant positive association between dosage and mortality was observed in male rats but not in female rats or in mice of either sex. Adequate numbers of animals in all groups survived sufficiently long to be at risk from late-developing tumors. No statistical significance could be attributed to the incidences of any neoplasms in rats or mice of either sex when compared to their respective controls. Under the conditions of this bioassay, no convincing evidence was provided for the carcinogenicity of iodoform in Osborne–Mendel rats or B6C3F1 mice.

Crystallise it from MeOH, EtOH or EtOH/EtOAc. It is steam volatile. It is a disinfectant. [Beilstein 1 IV 97.]