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Cyanogen
 
 
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Cyanogen is the chemical compound
Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
 with the formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 (C
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
)2. It is a colorless, toxic gas
Gas

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion....
 with a pungent
Pungency

Pungency is a sharp and biting sense impression. Food that causes this sensation is often called "spicy". Regarding chili peppers, it refers to a scientific equivalent of the Scoville scale of measuring spicyness....
 odor
Odor

An odor or odour is a volatilized chemical compound, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction....
. The molecule is a pseudohalogen
Pseudohalogen

Pseudohalogens are binary inorganic Chemical compound of the general form XY, where X is a cyanide, cyanate, thiocyanate etc. group and Y is any of X, or a true halogen....
. Cyanogen molecules consist of two CN groups — analogous to diatomic halogen molecules, such as Cl
Chlorine

Chlorine...
2, but far less oxidizing. The two cyano
Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the nitrile , which consists of a carbon atom chemical bond to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide salts in which cyanide is generally the anion CN-....
 groups are bonded together at their carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
 atoms: N=C-C=N, although other isomers have been detected. Certain derivatives of cyanogen are also called “cyanogen” even though they contain only one CN group.






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Encyclopedia


Cyanogen is the chemical compound
Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
 with the formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 (C
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
)2. It is a colorless, toxic gas
Gas

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion....
 with a pungent
Pungency

Pungency is a sharp and biting sense impression. Food that causes this sensation is often called "spicy". Regarding chili peppers, it refers to a scientific equivalent of the Scoville scale of measuring spicyness....
 odor
Odor

An odor or odour is a volatilized chemical compound, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction....
. The molecule is a pseudohalogen
Pseudohalogen

Pseudohalogens are binary inorganic Chemical compound of the general form XY, where X is a cyanide, cyanate, thiocyanate etc. group and Y is any of X, or a true halogen....
. Cyanogen molecules consist of two CN groups — analogous to diatomic halogen molecules, such as Cl
Chlorine

Chlorine...
2, but far less oxidizing. The two cyano
Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the nitrile , which consists of a carbon atom chemical bond to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide salts in which cyanide is generally the anion CN-....
 groups are bonded together at their carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
 atoms: N=C-C=N, although other isomers have been detected. Certain derivatives of cyanogen are also called “cyanogen” even though they contain only one CN group. For example cyanogen bromide
Cyanogen bromide

Cyanogen bromide is a pseudohalogen compound with the chemical formula CNBr. It is colorless solid that is widely used to modify biopolymers, fragment proteins and peptides, and synthesize other compounds....
 has the formula NCBr.

Cyanogen is the anhydride of oxamide
Oxamide

Oxamide is a white crystalline solid, which is soluble in ethanol, slightly soluble in water and insoluble in diethyl ether. Heating it in air to temperatures above 350 ?C causes decomposition yielding cyanogen and water....
:
H2NC(O)C(O)NH2 ? NCCN + 2 H2O


Preparation

Cyanogen is typically generated from cyanide compounds. One laboratory method entails thermal decomposition of mercuric cyanide
Mercury(II) cyanide

Mercury cyanide, also known as mercuric cyanide is a salt of mercury . It is a highly toxic white powder.One method for generating cyanogen in the laboratory entails the thermal decomposition of mercuric cyanide:...
:
2 Hg(CN)2 ? (CN)2 + 2 HgCN
Alternatively, one can combine solutions of copper(II) salts (such as copper(II) sulfate
Copper(II) sulfate

Copper sulfate is the chemical compound with the chemical formula CopperSulfurOxygen4. This salt exists as a series of compounds that differ in their degree of water of crystallization....
) with cyanides, an unstable copper(II) cyanide is formed which rapidly decomposes into copper(I) cyanide
Copper(I) cyanide

Copper cyanide , also copper cyanide, cuprous cyanide, or cupricin is a white to cream colored or sometimes greenish powdery solid that is insoluble in water....
 and cyanogen.
2 CuSO4 + 4 KCN ? (CN)2 + 2 CuCN + 2 K2SO4


Industrially, it is created by the oxidation of hydrogen cyanide
Hydrogen cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula HCN. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid. Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and highly volatility liquid that boiling slightly above room temperature at 26 Celsius ....
, usually using chlorine
Chlorine

Chlorine...
 over an activated silicon dioxide
Silicon dioxide

The chemical compound 'silicon dioxide', also known as 'silica' , is an oxide of silicon with a chemical formula of and has been known for its hardness since antiquity....
 catalyst or nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide

Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the chemical formula NitrogenOxygen2. One of several nitrogen oxides, NO2 is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year....
 over a copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
 salt. It is also formed when nitrogen
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
 and acetylene
Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the symbol carbonhydrogen. It is the simplest alkyne.As an alkyne, acetylene is Saturation because its two carbon atoms are Chemical bond together in a triple bond....
 are reacted by an electrical spark or discharge.

History

Cyanogen has a long history and was most likely generated first by Carl Scheele around 1782 while he was studying hydrogen cyanide
Hydrogen cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula HCN. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid. Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and highly volatility liquid that boiling slightly above room temperature at 26 Celsius ....
. The first confirmed synthesis was reported 1802, when it was used to make what is now known as cyanogen chloride
Cyanogen chloride

Cyanogen chloride is an extremely toxic chemical compound with the chemical formula CNCl. This linear, triatomic pseudohalogen is an easily condensed colorless gas....
. It attained importance with the growth of the fertilizer
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
 industry in the late nineteenth century and is still an important intermediate in the production of many fertilizers. It is also used as a stabilizer in the production of nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose

Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent....
.

Safety

Like other inorganic cyanide
Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the nitrile , which consists of a carbon atom chemical bond to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide salts in which cyanide is generally the anion CN-....
s, cyanogen is very toxic, as it undergoes reduction to cyanide
Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the nitrile , which consists of a carbon atom chemical bond to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide salts in which cyanide is generally the anion CN-....
, which binds more strongly than oxygen to the cytochrome c oxidase
Cytochrome c oxidase

The enzyme cytochrome c oxidase or Complex IV is a large transmembrane protein complex found in bacteria and the mitochondrion.It is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of mitochondria located in the mitochondrial membrane....
 complex, thus interrupting the mitochondrial
Mitochondrion

In cell biology, a mitochondrion is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryote cell . These organelles range from 0.5–10 micrometers in diameter....
 electron transfer chain. Cyanogen gas is an irritant to the eyes and respiratory system. Inhalation can lead to headache, dizziness, rapid pulse, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, convulsions and death, depending on exposure.

Cyanogen produces the second hottest known natural flame (after carbon subnitride) with a temperature of over 4525°C (8180°F) when it burns in oxygen.

See also

  • Pseudohalogen
    Pseudohalogen

    Pseudohalogens are binary inorganic Chemical compound of the general form XY, where X is a cyanide, cyanate, thiocyanate etc. group and Y is any of X, or a true halogen....


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