Chemical Properties
Ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate appears as dark brown to black powder. It cannot dissolve in cold water or carbon disulfide, but it can decompose in hot water. It is also insoluble in ethanol, but it can dissolve in hydrochloric acid. When combined with potassium iodide solution, it forms a precipitate of iodide. When reacted with hydrogen sulfide, it forms a precipitate of ruthenium trisulfide. It can react with ammonia, potassium cyanide, and potassium nitrite to form corresponding ammonia, cyanide, and nitroso complexes. It can also be reduced to blue divalent ruthenium ions by sodium amalgam or titanium trichloride.
Uses
Oxidation.Ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate is used as a catalyst for alkyne functionalization and oxidation reactions. It is used as key raw materials for the preparation of various ruthenium-based catalysts, including Grubbs? catalysts. It is utilized in the preparation of nanoparticulate ruthenium-aluminum oxyhydroxide catalyst, which is efficient for dehydrogenation of alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes. It is also involved in the synthesis of 2-ethyl-3-methylquinolines from primary aromatic amines and triallylamine.
Application
Ruthenium hydrated oxide, prepared from RhCl3 when deposited on titania nanotubes can be used as a catalyt system for selective oxidation of alcohols by oxygen.
Preparation
Ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate can be synthesized by directly combining ruthenium metal and chlorine at high temperature. Alternatively, adding hydrochloric acid to ruthenium hydroxide and subsequently evaporating, concentrating, and crystallizing the mixture can also produce the desired compound.
General Description
Ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate, also called Ruthenium(III) trichloride hydrate, is widely used as a starting material in Ruthenium chemistry. It is used in the determination of sulfites, the manufacture of chlororuthenates, and as an electrode coating material.
Purification Methods
Dissolve the salt in H2O, filter and concentrate to crystallisation in the absence of air to avoid oxidation. Evaporate the solution in a stream of HCl gas while being heated just below its boiling point until a syrup is formed and finally to dryness at 80-100o and dried in a vacuum over H2SO4. When heated at 700o in the presence of Cl2 the insoluble -form is obtained [Grube in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (Ed. Brauer) Academic Press Vol II p 1598 1965, Carlsen et al. J Org Chem 46 3936 1981].
