Iron(III) chloride

Iron(III) chloride is a brown to black salt, although the color appears red to dark green based on the viewing angle and light. The anhydrous salt is hygroscopic and deliquescent. The anhydrous salt also has a relatively low melting point (306 °C) and boiling point (316 °C), although its vaporization is in competition with reversible decomposition to FeCl₂ and Cl₂ gas. Iron(III) chloride is corrosive and acidic, behaving like a moderately strong Lewis acid, and is a mild oxidizing agent. It is slightly soluble in water and soluble in ethanol, ether, and acetone. Anhydrous iron(III) chloride is prepared by treating iron with gaseous chlorine or reacting hydrated iron(III) chloride with thionyl chloride. The hydrated form cannot be dried directly by heating because it decomposes to iron oxychlorides and hydrochloric acid.

Iron(III) chloride is commonly employed as a Lewis acid catalyst, notably Friedel-Craft arylations and alkylations. It is also commonly used in biochemistry in animal thrombosis models to induce thrombosis. Because of its high solubility, appreciable vapor pressure, and redox activity, iron trichloride is a common reagent in materials science for the synthesis of iron-containing nanoparticles. It is commonly used in the solvothermal synthesis of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles and magnetite-carbon nanocomposites . In addition, iron(III) chloride has been used as a reagent to prepare Fe-based metal organic frameworks and as a surface-treatment for silver nanowires to lower the sheet resistance and improve the stability .

The vapor-phase co-reductions with other metal halides by hydrogen results in finely divided intermetallics with applications as structural materials or compounds with useful thermoelectric, magnetic, and oxidation-resitance properties.

-Longer shelf-life as a free-flowing powder without addition of anti-caking agents
-Slower absorption of environmental moisture
-Conveniently resealable storage container in contrast to ampule -Faster dissolution compared to clumped materials
-No need to chip, chisel, or grind clumped salt.
-While the Redi-Dri^™ packaging system does offer desiccating properties, opening and closing of the Redi-Dri^™ bottle is still intended to occur under controlled atmosphere to maintain the highest quality of your MilliporeSigma product.

Redi Dri^™ is an innovative packaging system that prevents absorption of environmental moisture by anhydrous & hydroscopic salts during transport and chemical storage without addition of anti-caking agents, preserving the compounds′ quality assured, free-flowing nature. Redi-Dri^™ also provides a conveniently resealable storage container as a simpler and safer-to-use alternative to one-time-use packaging such as ampules.
While the Redi-Dri^™ packaging system does offer desiccating properties, opening and closing of the Redi-Dri^™ bottle is still intended to occur under controlled atmosphere to maintain the highest quality of your MilliporeSigma product.

Redi-Dri is a trademark of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC