Beryllium dichloride

  • Formula: BeCl2
  • Hill system formula: Be1Cl2
  • CAS registry number: [7787-47-5]
  • Formula weight: 79.918
  • Class: chloride
  • Colour: white to pale yellow
  • Appearance: crystalline solid
  • Melting point: 415°C
  • Boiling point: 482°C; 520°C
  • Density: l900 kg m-3

The following are some synonyms of beryllium dichloride:

  • beryllium dichloride
  • beryllium(II) chloride
  • beryllium chloride

The oxidation number of beryllium in beryllium dichloride is 2.

Synthesis

Beryllium bromide can be made by the direct reaction of the elements at high temperatures.

Be(s) + Cl2(g) (400°C) → BeCl2(s)

Solid state structure

  • Geometry of beryllium: 4 coordinate: tetrahedral
  • Prototypical structure:
Crystal structure of beryllium dichloride.
Crystal structure of beryllium dichloride.

Element analysis

The table shows element percentages for BeCl2 (beryllium dichloride).

Element %
Be 11.28
Cl 88.72

Isotope pattern for BeCl2

The chart below shows the calculated isotope pattern for the formula BeCl2 with the most intense ion set to 100%.

References

The data on these compounds pages are assembled and adapted from the primary literature and several other sources including the following.

  • R.T. Sanderson in Chemical Periodicity, Reinhold, New York, USA, 1960.
  • N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.
  • F.A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C.A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann, in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
  • A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, (ed.) in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1973.
  • R.W.G. Wyckoff, in Crystal Structures, volume 1, Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 1963.
  • A.R.West in Basic solid state chemistry Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
  • A.F. Wells in Structural inorganic chemistry, 4th edition, Oxford, UK, 1975.
  • J.D.H. Donnay, (ed.) in Crystal data determinative tables, ACA monograph number 5, American Crystallographic Association, USA, 1963.
  • D.R. Lide, (ed.) in Chemical Rubber Company handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 77th edition, 1996.
  • J.W. Mellor in A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry, volumes 1-16, Longmans, London, UK, 1922-1937.
  • J.E. Macintyre (ed.) in Dictionary of inorganic compounds, volumes 1-3, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1992.

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