Hydrogen cyanide is commonly listed amongst chemical warfare agents which cause general poisoning. More recent examples include the usage of this gas in gas chambers. Hydrogen cyanide (under the brand name Zyklon B) was perhaps most infamously employed by the Nazi regime in mid-20th century as a method of mass murder. The toxicity is caused by the cyanide ion, which prevents cellular respiration. Hydrogen cyanide as a chemical weapon See also: cyanide poisoningĪn HCN concentration of 300 parts per million in air will kill a human within a few minutes. Although the relationship of these chemical reactions to the origin of life remains speculative, studies in this area have led to discoveries of new pathways to organic compounds derived from condensation of HCN. Leslie Orgel, among many researchers, has written extensively on the condensation of HCN. It is possible, for example, that HCN played a part in the origin of life. Hydrogen cyanide has been discussed as a precursor to amino acids and nucleic acids. Hydrogen cyanide is contained in the exhaust of vehicles, in tobacco and wood smoke, and in smoke from burning nitrogen-containing plastics.ġ00 g of crushed apple seeds can yield 217 mg of Amygdalin which can generate ~10 mg of HCN. Some millipedes release hydrogen cyanide as a defense mechanism, as do certain insects such as some burnet moths. Such molecules slowly release hydrogen cyanide. Cyanide is also being used for capital punishment.įruits that have a pit, such as cherries and apricots, bitter almonds and apples, from which almond oil and flavoring are made, contain small amounts of cyanohydrins such as mandelonitrile (CAS#532-28-5). The less toxic ethyl acetate (C 4H 8O 2) has now largely replaced the use of cyanide in insect killing jars. This reaction is employed to manufacture adiponitrile, the precursor to Nylon 66.Ĭyanide is used in tempering steel, dyeing, explosives, engraving, the production of acrylic resin plastic, and other organic chemical products (eg: historically: formic acid). In hydrocyanation, HCN adds to alkenes to give nitriles. Amino acids are prepared by this reaction the essential amino acid methionine is manufactured by this route.The cyanohydrin of acetone is a precursor to methyl methacrylate. HCN adds to ketones and aldehydes to give cyanohydrins. This reaction is sometimes the basis of accidental poisonings because the acid converts a nonvolatile cyanide salt into the gaseous HCN. In the laboratory, small amounts of HCN are produced by the addition of acids to cyanide salts of alkali metals: In another process, practiced at BASF, formamide is heated and split into hydrogen cyanide and water: This reaction is akin to steam reforming, the reaction of methane and water. Of lesser importance is the Degussa process (BMA process) in which no oxygen is added and the energy must be transferred indirectly through the reactor wall: CH 4 + NH 3 → HCN + 3H 2 The energy needed for the reaction is provided by the part oxidation of methane and ammonia. The most important process for the production of hydrogen cyanide is the Andrussov oxidation invented by Leonid Andrussow in which methane and ammonia react in the presence of oxygen at about 1200 ☌ over a platinum catalyst: CH 4 + NH 3 + 1.5O 2 → HCN + 3H 2O In the year 2000, 1.615 billion pounds (732,552 tons) were produced in the US. 5 Hydrogen cyanide as a chemical weaponĬurrently hydrogen cyanide is produced in high quantities by three processes.
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