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Potassium sulfite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Potassium sulfite
Names
IUPAC name
Potassium sulfite
Other names
  • E225
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.030.279 Edit this at Wikidata
UNII
  • InChI=1S/2K.H2O3S/c;;1-4(2)3/h;;(H2,1,2,3)/q2*+1;/p-2 ☒N
    Key: BHZRJJOHZFYXTO-UHFFFAOYSA-L ☒N
  • InChI=1/2K.H2O3S/c;;1-4(2)3/h;;(H2,1,2,3)/q2*+1;/p-2
    Key: BHZRJJOHZFYXTO-NUQVWONBAU
  • [O-]S(=O)[O-].[K+].[K+]
Properties
K2SO3
Molar mass 158.26 g/mol
Appearance White solid
Density 2.49 g/cm3[1]
Soluble
Acidity (pKa) 8
−64.0·10−6 cm3/mol
Hazards
Flash point Non-flammable
Related compounds
Other anions
Potassium sulfate
Potassium selenite
Other cations
Sodium sulfite
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Potassium sulfite is the inorganic compound with the formula K2SO3. It is the salt of potassium cation and sulfite anion. It is a white solid that is highly soluble in water. Potassium sulfite is used for preserving food and beverages.[2]

History

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Potassium sulfite was first obtained by Georg Ernst Stahl in the early 18th century,[3] and was therefore known afterwards as Stahl's sulphureous salt. It became the first discovered sulfite and was first properly studied along with other sulfites by French chemists in the 1790s, and it was called sulphite of potash in the early 19th century.[4] Gilles-François Boulduc also discovered the salt in water of Passy in the 1720s.[5]

Production and reactions

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Potassium sulfite is produced by the thermal decomposition of potassium metabisulfite at 190 °C:[6]

K2S2O5 → K2SO3 + SO2

Structure

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The structure of solid K2SO3, as assessed by X-ray crystallography. The S-O distances are 1.515 Å, and the O-S-O angles are 105.2°[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Andersen, Leif; Strömberg, Dan; Nevala, H.; Pohjola, S.; Niinistö, Lauri; Volden, Hans V.; Weidlein, Johann; Zingaro, Ralph A. (1986). "The Structure of Potassium Sulfite". Acta Chemica Scandinavica. 40a: 479–480. doi:10.3891/acta.chem.scand.40a-0479.
  2. ^ "Potassium sulfite (225)". Codex Alimentarius. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  3. ^ Coleby, L. J. M. (1938). Studies in the chemical works of Stahl (Doctoral thesis). University of London. pp. 57–63, 181.
  4. ^ Thomson, Thomas (1807). System of Chemistry.
  5. ^ Chang, Ku-ming (Kevin) (2014). "Communications of Chemical Knowledge: Georg Ernst Stahl and the Chemists at the French Academy of Sciences in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century". Osiris. 29 (1): 135–157. doi:10.1086/678101. ISSN 0369-7827.
  6. ^ Johnstone, H. F. (1946). "Sulfites and Pyrosulfites of the Alkali Metals". Inorganic Syntheses. Vol. 2. pp. 162–167. doi:10.1002/9780470132333.ch49. ISBN 9780470132333.