Aqua regia - wikipedia Aqua regia Aqua regia Names IUPAC name nitric acid hydrochloride Other names aqua regis, nitrohydrochloric acid Identifiers CAS Number 8007 - 56 - 5 3D model ( JSmol ) Interactive image PubChem CID 62687 SMILES ( N+ ) ( = O ) ( O ) ( O - ). Cl Properties Chemical formula HNO + 3 HCl Appearance red, yellow or gold fuming liquid Density 1.01 -- 1.21 g / cm Melting point − 42 ° C ( − 44 ° F ; 231 K ) Boiling point 108 ° C ( 226 ° F ; 381 K ) Solubility in water miscible in water Vapor pressure 21 mbar Hazards NFPA 704 0 0 OX Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state ( at 25 ° C ( 77 ° F ), 100 kPa ). Infobox references Freshly prepared aqua regia to remove metal salt deposits Freshly prepared aqua regia is colorless, but it turns orange within seconds. Here, fresh aqua regia has been added to these NMR tubes to remove all traces of organic material. Aqua regia ( / ˈreɪɡiə, ˈriːdʒiə / ; from Latin, lit. `` royal water '' or `` king 's water '' ) is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, optimally in a molar ratio of 1 : 3. Aqua regia is a yellow - orange fuming liquid, so named by alchemists because it can dissolve the noble metals gold and platinum, though not all metals. Contents 1 Applications 2 Chemistry 2.1 Dissolving gold 2.2 Dissolving platinum 2.3 Reaction with tin 2.4 Decomposition of aqua regia 3 History 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links Applications Aqua regia is primarily used to produce chloroauric acid, the electrolyte in the Wohlwill process for refining the highest quality ( 99.999 % ) gold. Aqua regia is also used in etching and in specific analytic procedures. It is also used in some laboratories to clean glassware of organic compounds and metal particles. This method is preferred over the more traditional chromic acid bath for cleaning NMR tubes, because no traces of paramagnetic chromium can remain to spoil spectra. While chromic acid baths are discouraged because of the high toxicity of chromium and the potential for explosions, aqua regia is itself very corrosive and has been implicated in several explosions due to mishandling. Due to the reaction between its components resulting in its decomposition, aqua regia quickly loses its effectiveness ( yet remains a strong acid ), so its components are usually only mixed immediately before use. While local regulations may vary, aqua regia may be disposed of by careful neutralization, before being poured down the sink. If there is contamination by dissolved metals, the neutralized solution should be collected for disposal. Chemistry Dissolving gold Pure gold precipitate produced by the aqua regia chemical refining process Aqua regia dissolves gold, though neither constituent acid will do so alone, because, in combination, each acid performs a different task. Nitric acid is a powerful oxidizer, which will actually dissolve a virtually undetectable amount of gold, forming gold ions ( Au ). The hydrochloric acid provides a ready supply of chloride ions ( Cl ), which react with the gold ions to produce tetrachloroaurate ( III ) anions, also in solution. The reaction with hydrochloric acid is an equilibrium reaction that favors formation of chloroaurate anions ( AuCl ). This results in a removal of gold ions from solution and allows further oxidation of gold to take place. The gold dissolves to become chloroauric acid. In addition, gold may be dissolved by the free chlorine present in aqua regia. Appropriate equations are : Au + 3 HNO + 4 HCl ↽ − ⇀ ( displaystyle ( ce ( < = > > ) ) ) ( AuCl + 3 ( NO ) + ( H O ) + 2 H O or Au + HNO + 4 HCl ↽ − ⇀ ( displaystyle ( ce ( < = > > ) ) ) ( AuCl + ( NO ) + ( H O ) + H O If the aqua regia solution only contains gold, solid tetrachloroauric acid may be prepared by boiling off excess aqua regia, and removing residual nitric acid by repeatedly heating with hydrochloric acid. That step reduces nitric acid ( see decomposition of aqua regia ). If elemental gold is desired, it may be selectively reduced with sulfur dioxide, hydrazine, oxalic acid, etc. Appropriate equations are, for example : 2 AuCl + 3 SO + 6 H O → 2 Au + 12 H + 3 SO + 8 Cl. Dissolving platinum Similar equations can be written for platinum. As with gold, the oxidation reaction can be written with either nitric oxide or nitrogen dioxide as the nitrogen oxide product. Pt + 4 NO + 8 H → Pt + 4 NO + 4 H O 3Pt + 4 NO + 16 H → 3Pt + 4 NO + 8 H O The oxidized platinum ion then reacts with chloride ions resulting in the chloroplatinate ion. Pt + 6 Cl → PtCl Experimental evidence reveals that the reaction of platinum with aqua regia is considerably more complex. The initial reactions produce a mixture of chloroplatinous acid ( H PtCl ) and nitrosoplatinic chloride ( ( NO ) PtCl ). The nitrosoplatinic chloride is a solid product. If full dissolution of the platinum is desired, repeated extractions of the residual solids with concentrated hydrochloric acid must be performed. 2Pt + 2HNO + 8 HCl → ( NO ) PtCl + H PtCl + 4 H O ( NO ) PtCl + 2 HCl ⇌ H PtCl + 2 NOCl The chloroplatinous acid can be oxidized to chloroplatinic acid by saturating the solution with chlorine while heating. H PtCl + Cl → H PtCl Dissolving platinum solids in aqua regia was the mode of discovery for the most dense metals, iridium and osmium, both of which are found in platinum ore and will not be dissolved by the acid, instead collecting on the base of the vessel. As a practical matter, when platinum group metals are purified through dissolution in aqua regia, gold ( commonly associated with PGMs ) is precipitated by treatment with iron ( II ) chloride. Platinum in the filtrate, as hexachloroplatinate ( VI ), is converted to ammonium hexachloroplatinate by the addition of ammonium chloride. This ammonium salt is extremely insoluble, and it can be filtered off. Ignition ( strong heating ) converts it to platinum metal : 3 ( NH ) PtCl → 3 Pt + 2 N + 2 NH Cl + 16 HCl Unprecipitated hexachloroplatinate ( IV ) is reduced with elemental zinc, and a similar method is suitable for small scale recovery of platinum from laboratory residues. A platinum Soviet commemorative coin being dissolved in aqua regia. Reaction with tin Aqua regia reacts with tin to form tin ( IV ) chloride, containing tin in its highest oxidation state : 4 HCl + 2 HNO + Sn → SnCl + NO + NO + 3 H O Decomposition of aqua regia Upon mixing of concentrated hydrochloric acid and concentrated nitric acid, chemical reactions occur. These reactions result in the volatile products nitrosyl chloride and chlorine as evidenced by the fuming nature and characteristic yellow color of aqua regia. As the volatile products escape from solution, the aqua regia loses its potency. HNO + 3 HCl → NOCl + Cl + 2 H O Nitrosyl chloride can further decompose into nitric oxide and chlorine. This dissociation is equilibrium - limited. Therefore, in addition to nitrosyl chloride and chlorine, the fumes over aqua regia contain nitric oxide. 2 NOCl → 2 NO + Cl Because nitric oxide reacts readily with atmospheric oxygen, the gases produced also contain nitrogen dioxide, NO. 2 NO + O → 2 NO History The fox in Basil Valentine 's Third Key represents aqua regia, Musaeum Hermeticum, 1678 Aqua regia was first prepared by the Arab alchemist Jabir Ibn Al - Hayyan in the 8th century AD by dissolving ammonium chloride into nitric acid. It later appeared in a work of Pseudo-Geber dated to the early 14th century. The third of Basil Valentine 's keys shows a dragon in the foreground and a fox eating a rooster in the background. The rooster symbolizes gold ( from its association with sunrise and the sun 's association with gold ), and the fox represents aqua regia. The repetitive dissolving, heating, and redissolving ( the rooster eating the fox eating the rooster ) leads to the buildup of chlorine gas in the flask. The gold then crystallizes in the form of gold ( III ) chloride, whose red crystals were known as dragon 's blood. The reaction was not reported in modern chemical literature until 1890. Antoine Lavoisier called aqua regia nitro - muriatic acid in 1789. When Germany invaded Denmark in World War II, Hungarian chemist George de Hevesy dissolved the gold Nobel Prizes of German physicists Max von Laue ( 1914 ) and James Franck ( 1925 ) in aqua regia to prevent the Nazis from confiscating them. The German government had prohibited Germans from accepting or keeping any Nobel Prize after jailed peace activist Carl von Ossietzky had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935. De Hevesy placed the resulting solution on a shelf in his laboratory at the Niels Bohr Institute. It was subsequently ignored by the Nazis who thought the jar -- one of perhaps hundreds on the shelving -- contained common chemicals. After the war, de Hevesy returned to find the solution undisturbed and precipitated the gold out of the acid. The gold was returned to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Nobel Foundation. They re-cast the medals and again presented them to Laue and Franck. See also Aqua fortis Digger gold Notes Jump up ^ The information in the infobox is only accurate if the molar ratio of nitric acid to hydrochloric acid is 1 : 3. References Jump up ^ The relative concentrations of the two acids in water differ, values could be 65 % w / v for nitric acid and 35 % w / v for hydrochloric acid -- that is, the actual HNO : HCl mass ratio is less than 1 : 2, Jump up ^ Hoffman, R. ( 10 March 2005 ) How to make an NMR sample, Hebrew University. Accessed 31 October 2006. Jump up ^ American Industrial Hygiene Association, Laboratory Safety Incidents : Explosions. Accessed 8 September 2010. Jump up ^ Committee on Prudent Practices for Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Chemicals in Laboratories, National Research Council ( 1995 ). Prudent Practices in the Laboratory : Handling and Disposal of Chemicals ( free fulltext ). National Academies Press. pp. 160 -- 161. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Aqua Regia ''. Laboratory Safety Manual. Princeton University. Jump up ^ Renner, Hermann ; Schlamp, Günther ; Hollmann, Dieter ; Lüschow, Hans Martin ; Tews, Peter ; Rothaut, Josef ; Dermann, Klaus ; Knödler, Alfons ; et al. ( 2005 ), `` Gold, Gold Alloys, and Gold Compounds '', Ullmann 's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Weinheim : Wiley - VCH, doi : 10.1002 / 14356007. a12_499 Jump up ^ Hunt, L.B. ; Lever, F.M. ( 1969 ). `` Platinum Metals : A Survey of Productive Resources to industrial Uses '' ( PDF ). Platinum Metals Review. 13 ( 4 ) : 126 -- 138. Jump up ^ Kauffman, George B. ; Teter, Larry A. ; Rhoda, Richard N. ( 1963 ). `` Recovery of Platinum from Laboratory Residues ''. Inorg. Synth. Inorganic Syntheses. 7 : 232. doi : 10.1002 / 9780470132388. ch61. ISBN 9780470132388. Jump up ^ Kraus, P. ( 1962 ). `` Djābir B. Ḥayyān ''. Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2 ( 2nd ed. ). Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 357 -- 359. As for Djābir 's historic personality, Holmyard has suggested that his father was `` a certain Azdī called Hayyan, druggist of Kufa... mentioned... in connection with the political machinations that were used by many people, in the eighth century, finally resulted in the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty. Jump up ^ Holmyard, Eric John, `` Introduction '' to The Works of Geber, translated by Richard Russell ( London : Dent, 1928 ), p. vii : `` Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, generally known merely as Jabir, was the son of a druggist belonging to the famous South Arabian tribe of Al - Azd. Members of this tribe had settled at the town of Kufa, in Iraq, shortly after the Muhammadan conquest in the seventh century A.D., and it was in Kufa that Hayyan the druggist lived. '' Jump up ^ EJ Holmyard and Richard Russell. `` Alchemical Works Of Geber ''. Retrieved 6 April 2018 -- via Internet Archive. ^ Jump up to : Principe, Lawrence M. ( 2012 ). The secrets of alchemy. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226682951. Jump up ^ Lavoisier, Antoine ( 1790 ). Elements of Chemistry, in a New Systematic Order, Containing All the Modern Discoveries. Edinburgh : William Creech. p. 116. ISBN 978 - 0486646244. Jump up ^ `` Adventures in radioisotope research '', George Hevesy Jump up ^ Birgitta Lemmel ( 2006 ). `` The Nobel Prize Medals and the Medal for the Prize in Economics ''. The Nobel Foundation. External links Chemistry Comes Alive ! Aqua Regia Aqua Regia at The Periodic Table of Videos ( University of Nottingham ) Demonstration of Gold Coin Dissolving in Acid ( Aqua Regia ) GND : 4365575 - 0 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aqua_regia&oldid=849930143 '' Categories : Gold Alchemical substances Oxidizing mixtures Oxidizing acids Mineral acids Iranian inventions Arab inventions Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter Articles without InChI source Chemical pages without ChemSpiderID Articles without EBI source Articles without KEGG source Articles without UNII source Articles containing unverified chemical infoboxes All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans تۆرکجه Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ಕನ್ನಡ Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar മലയാളം Bahasa Melayu Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் తెలుగు Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 49 more Edit links This page was last edited on 12 July 2018, at 11 : 17 ( UTC ). 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Question: name the metals which are soluble only in aqua regia
Answer: gold