Eriochalcite
A variety of Minerals
What is Eriochalcite?
Copper(II) chloride is the chemical compound with the chemical formula CuCl2. This is a green blue solid, which slowly absorbs moisture to form a blue-green dihydrate. Both the anhydrous and the dihydrate forms occur naturally as the very rare minerals tolbachite and eriochalcite, respectively.
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Key Characteristics
Composition of Eriochalcite
Anhydrous CuCl2 adopts a distorted cadmium iodide structure. In this motif, the copper centers are octahedral. Most copper(II) compounds exhibit distortions from idealized octahedral geometry due to the Jahn-Teller effect, which in this case describes the localization of one d-electron into a molecular orbital that is strongly antibonding with respect to a pair of chloride ligands. In CuCl2·2H2O, the copper again adopts a highly distorted octahedral geometry, the Cu(II) centers being surrounded by two water ligands and four chloride ligands, which bridge asymmetrically to other Cu centers. Copper(II) chloride is paramagnetic. Of historical interest, CuCl2·2H2O was used in the first electron paramagnetic resonance measurements by Yevgeny Zavoisky in 1944.
Quick Facts
Physical Properties
- Color
- Bluish green, greenish blue, yellowish tint at times.
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2.5
- Density
- 2.55 g/cm³
Chemical Properties
- Chemical Formula
- CuCl2 · 2H2O
- Elements
- Cl, Cu, H, O
Also Known As
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