Sodium hexafluoroaluminate

Sodium hexafluoroaluminate
Sodium aluminium hexafluoride unit cell
Sodium aluminium hexafluoride unit cell
Names
Other names
Sodium fluoroaluminate
Cryolite
Kryolite
Aluminate(3-), hexafluoro-, trisodium, (OC-6-11)-
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChemSpider
UNII
  • InChI=1S/Al.6FH.3Na/h;6*1H;;;/q+3;;;;;;;3*+1/p-6 checkY
    Key: REHXRBDMVPYGJX-UHFFFAOYSA-H checkY
  • InChI=1/Al.6FH.3Na/h;6*1H;;;/q+3;;;;;;;3*+1/p-6/rAlF6.3Na/c2-1(3,4,5,6)7;;;/q-3;3*+1
    Key: REHXRBDMVPYGJX-ZWHJLPLDAC
  • [Na+].[Na+].[Na+].F[Al-3](F)(F)(F)(F)F
Properties
Na3AlF6
Molar mass 209.94 g/mol
Appearance white solid
Density 2.9 g/cm3, solid
Melting point 950 °C (1,740 °F; 1,220 K)
Boiling point decomposes
0.04% (20°C)[1]
Vapor pressure essentially 0
Hazards
GHS labelling:[3]
GHS08: Health hazardGHS07: Exclamation markGHS09: Environmental hazard
Danger
H332, H372, H411
P260
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC):
600 mg/kg (guinea pigs, oral)[2]
NIOSH (US health exposure limits):
PEL (Permissible)
 TWA 2.5 mg/m3[1]
REL (Recommended)
 TWA 2.5 mg/m3[1]
IDLH (Immediate danger)
 250 mg/m3 (as F)[1]
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
☒N verify (what is checkY☒N ?)

Sodium hexafluoroaluminate is an inorganic compound with formula Na3AlF6. This white solid, discovered in 1799 by Peder Christian Abildgaard (1740–1801),[4][5] occurs naturally as the mineral cryolite and is used extensively in the industrial production of aluminium. The compound is the sodium (Na+) salt of the hexafluoroaluminate (AlF63−) ion.

  1. ^ a b c d NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. "#0559". National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ullmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ GHS: GESTIS 001900
  4. ^ (Staff) (1799). "Norwegische Titanerze und andre neue Fossilien" [Norwegian titanium ores and other new minerals]. Allgemeine Journal der Chemie (in German). 2: 502. "Zugleich theilte er … wie gefrorne Salzlauge schmilzt." (At the same time he also communicated a report on an especially white, spar-like mineral [that had been] brought a few years ago from Greenland to Denmark. According to one of the investigations undertaken regarding it, it consisted of alumina and hydrofluoric acid. A compound of which no similar example has yet occurred in the mineral realm. It has received the name "cryolite" because it melts like frozen brine before the [flame of a] blowpipe.)
  5. ^ Abildgaard, P. C. (1800). "Om Norske Titanertser og om en nye Steenart fra Grönland, som bestaaer af Flusspatsyre og Alunjord" [On Norwegian titanium ores and on a new mineral from Greenland, which consists of hydrofluoric acid and alumina]. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers-Selskabs (The Royal Danish Scientific Society). 3rd series (in Danish). 1: 305–316. [From p. 312] Han har kaldt denne grönlandske Steen Kryolith eller Iissteen formedelst dens Udseende, og fordi den smelter saa meget let for Blæsröret. (He has named this Greenlandic stone cryolite or ice stone on account of its appearance, and because it melts so easily under a blowpipe.)