Iron(III) chloride is a moderately strong Lewis acid which with Lewis bases such as triphenylphosphine oxide forms stable adducts such as FeCl3(OPPh3)2 where Ph = phenyl. With chloride ion several anionic complexes are known, but the most stable contain the yellow tetrahedral FeCl4- ion. Solutions of FeCl4- in hydrochloric acid may be extracted into diethyl ether.
When heated with iron(III) oxide at 350 °C the oxychloride FeOCl is formed. In the presence of base, iron(III) chloride may undergo repl ...
Iron(III) chloride is probably the most widely used etching material[1]. It is commonly used for etching copper in the production of printed circuit boards. This occurs by the redox reaction
FeCl3 + Cu → FeCl2 + CuCl followed by FeCl3 + CuCl → FeCl2 + CuCl2
Iron(III) chloride is also used as a catalyst for the reaction of ethylene with chlorine, forming ethylene dichloride (1,2-Dichloroethane), an important commodity chemical, which is mainly used for the industrial production of vi ...
Anhydrous iron(III) chloride may be prepared by union of the elements:
2 Fe(s) + 3 Cl2(g) → 2 FeCl3(s)
The solution of iron(III) chloride is produced on industrial scale in two methods, from iron and from ore, in a closed-loop process.
Dissolving pure iron in iron(III) chloride solution:
Fe(s) + 2 FeCl3(aq) → 3 FeCl2(aq)
Dissolving iron ore in hydrochloric acid: See also:
