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Chemistry of Osmium

  • Page ID
    31664
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    Discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant (most famous for his determination that diamond is just a form of carbon), osmium is a very dense, blue-white hard metal. Its name is taken from the Greek, osme, for "odor". The oxides of osmium emit highly toxic gases and form readily when the metal is exposed to air. Thus there are few commercial applications for osmium except as a minor alloying agent where it reduces frictional wear ("osmiroid" ball point pen tips, for example).

    Most osmium is recovered as a by-product of the refining of platinum and nickel ores.

    Osmium tetroxide, \(\ce{OsO4}\), is very poisonous, has a pungent smell and can cause blindness; it is a powerful oxidizing agent, and is used to stain biological materials.

    Properties

    Palladium is part of the the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) whic is located in the 5th and 6th rows of the transition metal section of the periodic table and includes Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Osmium, Iridium, and Platinum. Common characteristics include resistance to wear, oxidation, and corrosion, high melting points, and oxidation states of +2 to +4. They are generally non-toxic.

    \(OsO_4\) (Osmium Tetroxide) is a valuable catalyst in organic chemistry reactions.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Stephen R. Marsden


    Chemistry of Osmium is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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