Preparation
β-PtCl2 is prepared by heating chloroplatinic acid to 350 °C in air.
- H2PtCl6 → PtCl2 + Cl2 + 2 HCl
This method is convenient since the chloroplatinic acid is generated readily from Pt metal. Aqueous solutions of H2PtCl6 can also be reduced with hydrazinium salts, but this method is more laborious than the thermal route of Kerr and Schweizer.
Although PtCl2 must form when platinum metal contacts hot chlorine gas, this process suffers from over-chlorination to give PtCl4. Berzelius and later Wöhler and Streicher showed that upon heating to 450 °C, this Pt(IV) compound decomposes to the Pt(II) derivative:
- PtCl4 → PtCl2 + Cl2
Transformations such as this are "driven" by entropy, the free energy gained upon the release of a gaseous product from a solid. Upon heating to still higher temperatures, PtCl2 releases more chlorine to give metallic Pt. This conversion is the basis of the gravimetric assay of the purity of the PtCl2 product.
Read more about this topic: Platinum(II) Chloride
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