Applications
Mercuric Chloride is an odourless, white crystal or powder. It is used in preserving wood, photography, embalming, fabric printing and analytical chemistry, and as a disinfectant, fungicide and insecticide.
 
Description
Mercuric chloride has the empirical formula Cl2Hg and a molecular weight of 271.52. It is an odorless, white, crystalline powder with a metallic taste. At 25°C, it has a density of 5.4. It melts at 277°C, and sublimes unchanged at about 300°C.
 
Preparation
Mercuric chloride is obtained by the action of chlorine on mercury or on mercury(I) chloride. It can also be produced by the addition of hydrochloric acid to a hot, concentrated solution of mercury(I) compounds such as the nitrate: Hg2(NO3)2 + 4 HCl → 2 HgCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 NO.
 
Chemical Properties
Mercuric chloride has the empirical formula Cl2Hg and a molecular weight of 271.52. It is an odorless, white, crystalline powder with a metallic taste. At 25°C, it has a density of 5.4. It melts at 277°C, and sublimes unchanged at about 300°C.
 
Definition
mercuric chloride. noun. a white poisonous soluble crystalline substance used as a pesticide, antiseptic, and preservative for wood. Formula: HgCl 2: Systematic name: mercury(II) chloride Also called: bichloride of mercury, corrosive sublimate.