Bismuth oxynitrate is the name applied to a number of compounds that contain Bi3+, nitrateions and oxide ions and which can be considered as compounds formed from Bi2O3, N2O5 and H2O. Other names for bismuth oxynitrate include bismuth subnitrate and bismuthyl nitrate. In older texts bismuth oxynitrate is often simply described as BiONO3. Bismuth oxynitrate was once called magisterium bismuti or bismutum subnitricum, and was used as a whitepigment, in beauty care, and as a gentle disinfectant for internal and external use. Bismuth oxynitrate is commercially available as Bi5O94 or as BiONO3·H2O. Some compounds have been fully characterised with single crystal studies and found to contain the octahedral+ cation. There is indirect evidence that either the octahedral cation Bi6O446+ or the octahedral cation Bi6126+ is present in aqueous solution following the polymerisation of Bi83+, the Bi3+ ion present in acidic solutions. The ion Bi6O446+ is found in the perchlorate compound Bi6O44ClO4·7H2O and is isoelectronic with the octahedral Sn6O44 cluster found in the hydrate of tin oxide, 3SnO·H2O. The compounds that contain this are:- The compound Bi6O535.3H2O also contains the octahedral units but this time they are joined to form 2. Additionally some oxynitrates have layer structures :-
Cluster cation structure
The octahedral ion has 6 Bi3+ ions at the corners of an octahedron. There is no covalent bond between the Bi atoms, they are held in position by bridging O2− and OH− anions, one at the centre of each of the eight triangular faces, bridging three Bi ions. The Bi ions are essentially four coordinate and are at the apex of a flatsquare pyramid. An ab initiotheoretical study of the hydration mechanism of Bi3+ and the structure concludes that the lone pairs on the Bi3+ ions are stereochemically active.
Preparation of bismuth oxynitrates
Bismuth oxynitrates can be prepared from bismuth nitrate. For example, hydrolysis of a solution of bismuth nitrate through the addition of alkali or the reaction of the pentahydrate, BiNO3·5H2O with KOH, or the controlledthermal decomposition of the pentahydrate. The thermal decomposition of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate proceeds through the following stages The final oxynitrate product of thermal dehydration is believed to be Bi5O7NO3, which is isostructural with β–Bi5O7I and has a layer structure. The ultimate stage of thermal decomposition of oxynitrates is bismuth oxide, Bi2O3.
