Barium acetate


Barium acetate is the salt of barium and acetic acid.

Preparation

Barium acetate is generally produced by the reaction of acetic acid with barium carbonate:
The reaction is performed in solution and the barium acetate crystallizes out. Alternatively, barium sulfide can be used:
Again, the solvent is evaporated off and the barium acetate crystallized.

Properties

Barium acetate is a white powder, which is highly soluble: at 0 °C, 55.8 g of barium acetate can be dissolved in 100 g of water. It decomposes upon heating into barium carbonate.

Reactions

When heated in air, barium acetate decomposes to the carbonate. It reacts with acids: reaction with sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid give the sulfate, chloride and nitrate respectively.

Uses

Barium acetate is used as a mordant for printing textile fabrics, for drying paints and varnishes and in lubricating oil. In chemistry, it is used in the preparation of other acetates; and as a catalyst in organic synthesis.
Relatively poisonous, it was featured in a 2001 episode of the television series Forensic Files, recounting the 1993 murder of a man by his teenaged daughter, though the episode and other crime documentary shows examining the Robards case willfully excluded the words "barium acetate" in hopes of preventing future "copycat" crimes. The print media, and a 2014 episode of the crime documentary series Redrum, have not been so circumspect. Also named as the choice poison of a teen's murder of her father in Deadly Women "Parents Peril", S6 E2.