Laboratory Preparation
Ferrous chloride is conveniently prepared by addition of iron powder to a solution of methanol and concentrated hydrochloric acid under an inert atmosphere. This reaction gives the methanol solvate, which upon heating in a vacuum at about 160 °C gives anhydrous FeCl2. FeBr2 and FeI2 can be prepared analogously.
An alternative laboratory synthesis of FeCl2 entails the reaction of FeCl3 with chlorobenzene:
- 2 FeCl3 + C6H5Cl → 2 FeCl2 + C6H4Cl2 + HCl
FeCl2 prepared in this way exhibits convenient solubility in tetrahydrofuran (THF), a common solvent for chemical reactions. In one of two classic syntheses of ferrocene, Wilkinson generated FeCl2 by heating FeCl3 with iron powder in THF. Ferric chloride decomposes to ferrous chloride at high temperatures.
Read more about this topic: Iron(II) Chloride
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