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Fremy, Comptes rendus, 1854, 38, p. 1oo8; T. Wilm, Ber., 1883, 16, p. 1524. A purer ruthenium is obtained by A. Gutbier and L. Trenkner (Zeit. anorg. Chem., 1905, 45, p. 166) by See also:

HEATING

heating the crude metal (obtained by other processes) in a current of See also:

OXYGEN (symbol 0, atomic weight 16)

oxygen until all the osmium is volatilized as tetroxide. The See also:

RESIDUE (through the French, from the Lat. residuum, a remainder, from residere, to remain)

residue is then fused with caustic potash and nitre, dissolved in water, saturated with See also:

CHLORINE (symbol Cl, atomic weight 35`46 (0=16)

chlorine and distilled on the water-See also:

bath in a current of chlorine. Pure ruthenium tetroxide distils over.

This is then dissolved in water, reduced by See also:

ALCOHOL

alcohol and ignited in oxygen. Ruthenium in bulk resembles platinum in its See also:

general See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance, and has been obtained crystalline by heating an alloy of ruthenium and See also:

TIN (Lat.- stannum, whence the chemical symbol " Sn "; atomic weight =117.6, 0=16)

tin in a current of hydrochloric acid See also:

gas. Its specific gravity (after See also:

FUSION

fusion) is 12.063 (A. Joly, Comptes rendus, 1893, 116, p. 430). It fuses easily in the electric arc. It oxidizes superficially when heated, but fairly rapidly when ignited in an oxidizing See also:

BLOWPIPE

blowpipe See also:

FLAME (Lat. flamma; the root flag- appears in flagrare, to burn, blaze, and Gr. d, XEryew)

flame, forming a See also:

black See also:

SMOKE (from O. Eng. smeocan, to smoke, reek, cf. Dutch meek, Ger. Schmauch, probably allied to Gr. vol9caiv)

smoke of the oxide. It is also oxidized when fused with caustic potash and nitre, forming a ruthenate. Acids have practically no See also:

ACTION

action on the metal, but it is soluble in solutions of the alkaline hypochlorites. Like most of the other metals of the See also:

GROUP

group, it absorbs gases. A colloidal See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form has been obtained by A. Gutbier and G.

Hofineier (Jour. prakt. Chem., 1905, (2), 71, p. 452) by reducing ruthenium salts with See also:

HYDRAZINE (DIAMIDOGEN), N2H4

hydrazine See also:

HYDRATE

hydrate in the presence of See also:

GUM (Fr. gomme, Lat. gommi, Gr. Kµµ1, possibly a Coptic word; distinguish " gum," the fleshy covering of the base of a tooth, in O. Eng. gbma, palate, cf. Ger. Gaumen, roof of the mouth; the ultimate origin is probably the root gha, to open wide, seen in

gum-arabic. Several oxides of ruthenium, have been described, the definite existence of some of which appears to be doubtful. The dioxide, RuO2, is formed by heating sulphate, or by heating the metal in a current of oxygen. It crystallizes in octahedra isomorphous with ,stannic oxide. It is insoluble in acids and decomposes when heated to a sufficiently high temperature. Fusion with caustic potash converts it into a mixture of potassium ruthenate and ruthenium sesquioxide, Ru2O3, which is a black, almost insoluble See also:

POWDER (through O. Fr. puldre, modern poudre, from Lat. pulvis, pulveris, dust)

powder. An oxide of See also:

composition Ru409 is obtained as a black hydrated powder when the peroxide is heated with water for some See also:

time. It becomes anhydrous at about 36o° C., and is unattacked by acids and alkalis. The peroxide, RUO4, is formed when a solution of potassium ruthenate is decomposed by chlorine, or by oxidizing ruthenium compounds with potassium chlorate and hydrochloric acid, or with potassium permanganate and sulphuric acid. It forms a See also:

GOLDEN

golden yellow crystalline See also:

mass, which sublimes slowly in vacuo, and melts at 25.5° C.

It blackens on exposure to moisture, and decomposes when exposed to See also:

LIGHT

light. It is in-soluble in water, but gradually decomposes, forming a hydrated oxide, Ru2O..See also:

H2O (combined)

H2O. It is readily reduced. Its vapour possesses a characteristic See also:

SMELL (connected etymologically with " smoulder " and " smoke ")

smell, somewhat resembling that of See also:

OZONE

ozone. Ruthenium dichloride, RuCl2, is obtained (in solution) by reducing the sesquichloride by sulphuretted See also:

HYDROGEN [symbol H, atomic weight x-oo8 (0=16)]

hydrogen or See also:

ZINC

zinc. It is See also:

STABLE

stable in the See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold. The sesquichloride, Ru2C16, is formed when a mixture of chlorine and See also:

CARBON (symbol C, atomic weight 12)

carbon monoxide is passed over finely divided ruthenium heated to 350° C. (Joly, Comptes rendus, 1892, 114, p. 291). It is a See also:

brown powder which is readily decomposed by boiling water. It absorbs See also:

AMMONIA (NH3)

ammonia readily, forming Ru,Cl6.7NH,. Numerous See also:

double chlorides are known, e.g.

Ru2Cl.4KC1; Ru,C16.4NH.C1, &c. The pure tetrachloride, RuC14, has not been isolated, but is chiefly known in the form of its double salts, such as potassium ruthenium chloride, K2RuC16, which is obtained when finely divided ruthenium is fused with caustic potash and potassium chloride is gradually added to the fused mass (U. Antony and A. Luchesi, Gazz, 1899, 29, II. p. 82). It is a red-brown crystalline powder, which is soluble in water. A similar ammonium See also:

salt has been obtained. Ruthenium sulphides are obtained when the metal is warmed with See also:

PYRITES

pyrites and some See also:

BORAX (sodium pyroborate or sodium biborate)

borax, and the fused mass treated with hydrochloric acid first in the cold and then hot. The insoluble residue contains a mixture of two sulphides, one of which is converted into the sulphate by nitric acid, whilst the other (a crystalline solid) is insoluble in acids. Ruthenium sulphate, Ru(SO4)2, as obtained by oxidizing the sulphide, is an See also:

orange-yellow mass which is deliquescent and dissolves in water, the solution possessing a strongly acid reaction. See also:

ROUGE (" red," from Lat. rubeus)

Rouge de Ruthene, Ru2(OH)2.Cl4•(NH4)7, is obtained from ammonia and ruthenium sesquichloride at 4o° C., the product being purified by See also:

CRYSTALLIZATION

crystallization from ammonia. It forms small brown lamellae which dissolve slowly in water to give a fuchsin-red solution possessing a See also:

VIOLET

violet reflex.

The solution possesses a considerable tinctorial See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, See also:

DYEING (0. Eng. dedgian, dealt ; Mid. Eng. deyen)

dyeing See also:

SILK

silk in the cold. Potassium ruthenium See also:

CYANIDE

cyanide, K4Ru(CN)6.3H2O, formed when potassium ruthenate is boiled with a solution of potassium cyanide, crystallizes in colourless plates which are soluble in water. A ruthenium silicide, RuSi, has been prepared by H. See also:

MOISSAN, HENRI (1852-1907)

Moissan (Comptes rendus, 1903, 137, p. 229) by the See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination of the two elements in the electric furnace. It forms very hard metallic-looking crystals, See also:

burns in oxygen and is not attacked by acids. Potassium ruthenate, K2RuO4•H2O, obtained by fusion of the metal with caustic potash and nitre, crystallizes in prisms which become covered with a black See also:

DEPOSIT (Lat. depositurn, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of)

deposit on exposure to moist See also:

air. It is soluble in water, giving an orange-red solution which becomes See also:

green on See also:

STANDING

standing, and gradually deposits the hydrated pentoxide, Ru2O6•H2O (H. Debray and A. Joly, Comptes rendus, 1888, 1o6, p. 1494). The per-ruthenate, KRuO4, formed by the action of chlorine on the ruthenate, or of alkalis on the peroxide at 5o° C., is a black crystalline solid which is stable in dry air but decomposes when heated strongly.

On the nitroso, nitroso-ammonium and nitroso-diammonium compounds see C. E. Claus, Ann., 1856, 98, p. 317; A. Joly, Comptes rendus, 1888, 107, p. 994; 1889, io8, pp. 854, 1300; 1890, III, p. 969; L. Brizard, ibid., 1896, 122, p. 730; 1896, 123, p. 182. The atomic weight of ruthenium was determined by A.

Joly (Comptes rendus, 1889, 188, p. 946), who obtained the values 101.5 and 101.3.

End of Article: RUTHENIUM [symbol Ru, atomic weight 101.7 (0=16)]

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