 Re: source of red phosphorus?
quote:I was wondering if you could get red phosphorus from like fertilizer or something. Is it easy to order or are sales monitored?
No, you cannot get Red Phosphorus from fertilizers.
Yes, Red Phosphorus is a watched precursor, because the only practical applications are the making of drugs and/or explosives.
7503. Phosphorus.
P; at. wt 30.97376; at. no. 15; valences 3, 5. One naturally occurring isotope: 31P; artificial, radioactive isotopes: 28-30; 32-34. Abundance in earth's crust: about
0.12%. Does not occur free in nature; found in the form of phosphates in the minerals chlorapatite [3Ca2(PO4)2.CaCl2], fluorapatite [3Ca(PO4)2.CaF2], vivianite,
wavellite and "phosphate rock" or phosphorite; occurs in small quantities in granite rocks; occurs in all fertile soil; an essential constituent of protoplasm, nervous tissue
and bones. Discovered in 1669 by Brandt. Prepn: Ullmann, Enzyklopdie der Technischen Chemie 8, 362 (1931); DeWitt, Skolnik, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 68, 2305 (1946)
; Skolnik et al., ibid. 2310. Lab prepn and purification: Klement in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry vol. 1, G. Brauer, Ed. (Academic Press, New York,
2nd ed., 1963) pp 518-525. Reviews: J. R. Van Waser, Phosphorus and Its Compounds, 2 vols. (Interscience, New York, 1958, 1961) 2046 pp; Corbridge, "The
Structural Chemistry of Phosphorus Compounds" in Topics in Phosphorus Chemistry, Vol. 3, E. J. Griffith, M. Grayson, Eds. (Interscience, New York, 1966) pp 57-
394; Toy, "Phosphorus" in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 2, J. C. Bailar, Jr. et al., Eds. (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973) pp 389-545; J. R. Van Wazer in
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology vol. 17 (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 3rd ed., 1982) pp 473-490.
Phosphorus exists in three main allotropic forms: white, black, and red. The same liquid is obtained on melting. Caution: Avoid contact with KClO3, KMnO4,
peroxides and other oxidizing agents; explosions may result on contact or friction. Phosphorus atoms exist as symmetrical, tetrahedral P4 molecules in the liquid phase
and in the vapor phase below 800 deg; molecules dissociate to P2 above 800 deg.
Caution: Ingestion of even small amounts of white phosphorus may produce severe G.I. irritation, bloody diarrhea, liver damage, skin eruptions, oliguria,
circulatory collapse, coma, convulsions, death. The approx fatal dose is 50 to 100 mg. External contact may cause severe burns. Chronic poisoning (from ingestion
or inhalation) is characterized by boney necrosis, especially of the mandible, spontaneous fractures, anemia, weight loss. Red phosphorus is relatively nontoxic unless it
contains the white form as an impurity: Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, M. N. Gleason et al., Eds. (Williams Wilkins, Baltimore, 1969) Section III, pp
192-195.
White phosphorus. Colorless or white, transparent, cryst solid; waxy appearance; darkens on exposure to light. Sometimes called yellow phosphorus; color due
to impurities. Two allotropic modifications: .alpha.-form exists at room temp; cubic crystals containing P4 molecules; d 1.83. .beta.-Form prepd by conversion of .alpha.-form at
-79.6 deg; hexagonal crystals; d 1.88. mp 44.1 deg (vapor press. 0.181 mm); bp 280 deg. Volatile; sublimes in vacuo at ordinary temp when exposed to light. When exposed to
air in the dark, emits a greenish light and gives off white fumes. Solubilities in water: one part/300,000 parts water; in abs alc: one g/400 ml; in abs ether: one g/102
ml; in CHCl3: one g/40 ml; in benzene: one g/35 ml; in CS2: one g/0.8 ml. Soly in oils: one gram phosphorus dissolves in 80 ml olive oil, 60 ml oil of turpentine, =100
ml almond oil. Ignites at about 30 deg in moist air; the ignition temp is higher when the air is dry. Caution: handle with forceps. Keep under water. The fumes and the
element itself are poisonous. Combines directly with the halogens to form tri- or pentahalides; combines with sulfur to form sulfides. Reacts with several metals to
form phosphides. Yields orthophosphoric acid when treated with nitric acid. Reacts with alkali hydroxides with formation of phosphine and sodium
hypophosphite. Incompat. Sulfur, iodine, oil of turpentine, potassium chlorate.
Black Phosphorus. Polymorphic. Orthorhombic crystalline form: stable in air; resembles graphite in texture; produced from the white modification under high
pressures: Bridgman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 36, 1344 (1914); Jacobs, J. Chem. Phys. 5, 945 (1937); Krebs, Inorg. Syn. 7, 60 (1963). d 2.691. Does not catch fire
spontaneously. Insol in organic solvents. Amorphous form prepd at lower pressures: Jacobs, loc. cit. At higher pressure the orthorhombic form undergoes reversible
transition to a rhombohedral structure, d 3.56, and a cubic structure, d 3.83: Jamieson, Science 139, 1291 (1963).
Red phosphorus. Polymorphism: Roth et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 69, 2881 (1947); Corbridge, loc. cit. Crystal structure of one form, Hittorf's phosphorus:
Thurn, Krebs, Acta Cryst. 25B, 125 (1969). Red to violet powder. The properties of red phosphorus are intermediate between those of the white and black forms.
Sublimes at 416 deg, triple point 589.5 deg under 43.1 atm. d 2.34. Insol in organic solvents. Sol in phosphorus tribromide. Less active than the white form; reacts only at
high temp. Yields the white modification when distilled at 290 deg. Catches fire when heated in air to about 260 deg and burns with formation of the pentoxide. Burns when
heated in an atmosphere of chlorine.
USE: White phosphorus: manuf rat poisons; for smoke screens, gas analysis. Red phosphorus: pyrotechnics; manuf safety matches; in organic synthesis; manuf
phosphoric acid, phosphine, phosphoric anhydride, phosphorus pentachloride, phosphorus trichloride; manuf fertilizers, pesticides, incendiary shells, smoke bombs,
tracer bullets.
[This message has been edited by mnm (edited 09-23-2003).]
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2003-09-23, 05:43
