Assignment Cover Sheet

FINAL %

FACULTY OF
SCIENCE AND

AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

Student Name
NDWANDWE SR

Student Number
201859000

Module Title INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Module Code Schm 312 experiment 1(3a)

Assignment Preparation of carbonatotetraammine cobalt (III) Nitrate

Due Date 22 September 2021

Name of lecture Prof segapelo

Learner’s mark

Abstract
Cobalt was weighed to be 15.072g ,in the first beaker with
ammonium carbonate the solution was colourless and the
second beaker with cobalt Nitrate the colour was red ,when the
first beaker was added to the second beaker the colour
changed to purple/black ,after adding slowly hydrogen
peroxide it formed bubbles and had acidic smoke bubbles the
colour still purple/black ,the sample or solution formed
crystals ,red crystals after it was cooled in ice .
INTRODUCTION
Ammonium carbonate (NH4)2CO3 it is a salt and it readily
degrades to gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide upon
heating. It is commonly known in baking used as baking soda
and baking powder. It is component of what was formerly
known as sal volatile and salt of Hartshorn. Ammonium
carbonate slowly decomposes at standard temperature and
pressure through two pathways it is used to find ammine and
carbonate for carbonatotetraammine cobalt (III) Nitrate
production.
Cobalt Nitrate hexahydrate is the inorganic compound which is
red brown in colour it is cobalt salt, it is commonly reduced to
metallic high purity cobalt ,it is used to get cobalt and Nitrate for
carbonatotetraammine (III) nitrate.
In the formation of carbonatotetraammine (III) nitrate denoted
[CoCO3(NH3)4]NO3 the transition metal which serves as the
central atom is cobalt. Cobalt has six bonds ,coordination
Number is six, it structure is octahedral ,4 nitrogen atoms and 3
ammonia and 1 carbonate molecule ,this ligand is called
bidentate ligand because of it atoms were bonded into a
metal ,thus ammonia ligands all are monodentate ligands .the
cobalt looses an electron and is oxidized ,hydrogen peroxide is
used as the oxidizing agent ,so it is reduced to water .
Experimental
20g(0.2mol) of ammonium carbonate was dissolved in 60ml of
water and 60ml of concentrated aqueous ammonia was added
the solution was colourless and it was stirred ,while stirring that
solution was poured to a 15g(0.052mol) solution of cobalt
nitrate hexahydrate [Co(H2O)6](NO3)2 in 30 ml of water ,the
solution was red. 8ml of 30 percent hydrogen peroxide was
added slowly, the solution showed small purple acidic bubbles.
The mixture was transferred into an 250ml beaker and the
solution was concentrated in a fume cupboard to 90-100ml over
a hot plate .NOT ALLOWING IT TO BOIL. During the
evaporation 5g of ammonium carbonate was added in small
portions. The hot solution was filtered (using sunction) and
cooled in ice water ,while it cooled in ice it formed purple
crystals .using sanction the red crystals were filtered and
washed with a few ml of water and then with similar amount of
ethanol. The physical state of the final product was red/ purple
crystals and the mass of a final product or sample was 6.09g
,the percentage yield was 33.62%.

DISCUSSION
The first beaker with ammonium carbonate the colour was
colourless for the solution and this solution was transferred to
beaker two with cobalt nitrate the colour was red in the
beaker ,when the two beakers were mixed the mixture colour
was purple /black ,with hydrogen peroxide added slowly the
colour was purple black with acidic and smokey small bubbles.
After it was heated and cooled in ice it formed crystals
red crystals .
In the formation of carbonatotetraammine (III) nitrate denoted
[CoCO3(NH3)4]NO3 the transition metal which serves as the
central atom is cobalt. Cobalt has six bonds ,coordination
Number is six, it structure is octahedral ,4 nitrogen atoms and 3
ammonia and 1 carbonate molecule ,this ligand is called
bidentate ligand because of it atoms were bonded into a
metal ,thus ammonia ligands all are monodentate ligands .the
cobalt looses an electron and is oxidized ,hydrogen peroxide is
used as the oxidizing agent ,so it is reduced to water .
The formation is a a redox reaction and the equation can be
balanced using half reactions
Co(H2O)6+4NH3+CO3 Co(NH3)4CO3+6H2O
Co(NH3)4CO3+H2O2  [Co(NH3)4CO3]^+
The balance equation for preparation of carbonatotetraammine
(III) Nitrate is
10Co(NO3)2+26NH3+10(NH4)2CO3+ H2O2 
8NH4NO3OH+10[Co(Nh3)4CO3]NO3

Conclusion
The result were consistent to the literature we
were lectured to expect red crystals and after
cooling the solution on ice the red crystals
appeared. Yes I learned a lot from this experiment
especially that not using the correct procedures
when doing the experiment may lead to wrong
results
Reference
1.Ali Mohammed yimer, Researchgate,2013
2.Daniel C ,Jonathan, chem Res 2013
3.seanM,Garringer, organometalics ,2008,23

Supplementary and complementary material

Ammonium carbonate =20.108g x 249.086g/mol
÷96.09g/mol =52.124g
Cobalt nitrate hexahydrate =15.072gx
249.086g/mol ÷182.943g/mol =20.521g
Co(NO3)2 is the limiting reagent
The percentage yield is = actual yield ÷theoretical
Yield
=(6.90g ÷20.52g ) x100
=33.62%