Talk:Arsenous acid

Untitled

Sure is a lot on toxicity, alright already. You need only mention it in two sections (intro and safety).

How is this stuff made? What is its structure?

I dont think that it decomposes to arsine upon treatment with acid. Maybe upon addition of a reductant such as I- or Zn.

What is "it", by the way? As2O3 or As(OH)3?

Insert links to corresponding phosphorus cmpd? Roam around wiki-land and find something more chemical than water to link to.

Good source: Greenwood and Earnshaw's "Chemistry of the Elements"

---

Why is it notated as As(OH)3? Isn't that misleading? I suggest H3AsO3 (aq)

As₂O₃ + 3H₂O = 2H₃As + 3O₂ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jwiner (talk • contribs) 20:13, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I think the space filling model is wrong. The As(3+) cation should be much smaller than the OH- groups. The ionic radius of O(-2) is 1.4 angstroms. I don't know the ionic radius of As(+3), but for As(+5) it is 0.47 angstroms.

Toxicity

Not all "Arsenic-containing compounds are highly toxic". Some are far less toxic than the more toxic forms. Some organic forms of arsenic (roxarsone for example) were fed to chickens. There are numerous references that support this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.229.93.209 (talk) 17:35, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

I agree, for example, metalloid arsenic is in general non toxic due to it's insolubility in water and bioligical fluids. Ai Leen! (talk) 17:49, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Formula

Why is the formula first given as H₃AsO₃? This is a hydroxide, so it should be As(OH)₃. Am I wrong? 78.0.243.118 (talk) 23:48, 7 July 2018 (UTC)

Yep. And sulfuric acid should be written O₂S(OH)₂ but we tend to say H₂SO₄. And bicarbonate should be HOCO₂^-, but we write HCO₃^-. Those are some of the reasons that chemistry is "hard".--Smokefoot (talk) 01:42, 8 July 2018 (UTC)