Phrm 2114: Inorganic Pharmacy -II Lab
Prepared By: Shadid Uz Zaman and Md. Imran Nur Manik Edited By: Somaia Haque Chadni Page 21
Lecturer; Department of Pharmacy; Northern University Bangladesh (NUB).
Experiment No. 03-C
1. Name of the Experiment
Qualitative analysis (identification) of group III cations.
2. Principle
Salts are compounds which are formed from the reaction between acids and bases.
An inorganic salt is just a salt which has no organic part in its molecular structure.
Any salt is composed of two parts – cation and anion. The cation part usually comes from
the base and the anion part usually comes from the acid.
Based on solubility characteristics, the common inorganic cations (usually metal in
nature) are classified into five groups. Cations of each group is precipitated a common
reagent. So, by step-wise addition of those reagents, we can first identify which group the
cation belongs to. Then by using specific reagents we can confirm the cation.
The common inorganic cations can be classified into five groups based on solubility
characteristics. Cations of each class are precipitated by a specific reagent.
Group Cations Specific precipitating agents
I Hg
+, Pb
2+, Ag
+ Dilute HCl
II
Bi
3+, Cu
2+, Hg
2+, Cd
2+, Pb
2+, Sn
2+, Sn
4+,
Sb
3+, Sb
5+, As
3+, As
5+
H2S
III Fe
2+, Fe
3+, Al
3+, Cr
3+, Zn
2+, Ni
2+, Co
2+, Mn
2+ NH4Cl + excess NH4OH(NaOH + NH4OH)
IV Ca
2+, Ba
2+, Sr
2+ (NH4)2CO3(& Na2CO3)
V Na
+, K
+, Mg
2+, NH4
+
-
Cations of group III are not precipitated by dilute HCl or H2S, but they can be precipitated
from a salt solution by the addition of NH 4Cl in the presence of excess NH 4OH.
With this reagent, hydroxide or sulphide salts of cation will be precipitated. If precipitate
is formed, then confirmation tests should be performed to identify specific cation.
Confirmation test Description Reactions
Fe
2+
test
If the precipitate from the above reaction is greenish, then it may be ferrous.
If dilute sodium hydroxide is added to a solution
containing ferrous ions (Fe
2+), a green gelatinous
precipitate of iron (II) hydroxide will form.
Excess addition of sodium hydroxide will not
dissolve the precipitate.
Fe
2+(aq)+2OH
–(aq)
Fe(OH)2(s)↓
Green precipitate
[FeSO
4 + 2NaOH Fe(OH)
2 +
Na
2SO
4]
Fe(OH)
2+ NaOH→NR
Excess
When aqueous ammonia (dil. /2M) is added to a
solution of ferrous (Fe
2+) ions, a green gelatinous
precipitate will form.
Excess addition of ammonia will not dissolve the
precipitate.
Fe
2+(aq)+2NH3(aq)
Fe(OH)2(s)↓ +2NH4
+(aq)
Green precipitate
[FeSO
4 + 2NH
4OH → Fe(OH)
2 +
(NH
4)
2SO
4 ]
Fe(OH)
2+ NH
4OH→NR
Excess
To confirm, potassium ferricyanide is added to the
stock solution, a deep blue precipitate is obtained.
Fe
2+ + K3[Fe(CN)6]
KFe[Fe(CN)6]↓ (blue PPT) +2K
+ Md. Imran Nur Manik