Hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride

Hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride, historically called luteo cobalt chloride,[1] is a chemical compound of cobalt, ammonia, and chlorine. It is one of the cobalt ammine complexes. This compound is important to the history of chemistry as part of how Alfred Werner discovered his Nobel Prize-winning theory of coordination chemistry.[2]

Chemistry

This compound is a salt of the hexaamminecobalt(III) cation, [Co(NH3)6]3+, and three chloride anions. The chemical formula is [Co(NH3)6]Cl3. The ammine ligands are strongly bonded to the cobalt atom, and do not have the basicity of free ammonia. Even in a concentrated hydrochloric acid solution, the chemical bond between cobalt and nitrogen is strong enough to stop protonation of the ammine by the acid.

Heating this compound can break off ammine ligands, first making chloropentaamminecobalt(III) chloride and eventually reducing the compound to cobalt(II) chloride.[3]

Sources

  1. ↑ Harkins, William D.; Hall, R. E.; Roberts, W. A. (1916). "The Cobaltammines". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2 (10): 598–602. Bibcode:1916PNAS....2..598H. doi:10.1073/pnas.2.10.598. PMC 1091108. PMID 16576188.
  2. ↑ Alfred Werner (1913-12-11). "On the Constitution and Configuration of Higher-Order Compounds". NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. Retrieved 2026-04-17.
  3. ↑ Watt, George W. (1964). "The Thermal Decomposition of Ammines of Cobalt(III) Chloride". Inorganic Chemistry. 3 (3): 325–329. doi:10.1021/ic50013a005.
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