Properties

General
Name	Potassium cyanate
Appearance	White powder
CAS registry number	590-28-3
Physical Attributes
Molar mass	81.12 g/mol
Melting point	700 °C
Boiling point
Density	2.05 ×103 kg/m3
Crystal structure
Solubility	75 g in 100g water
Thermochemistry
May cause irritation.
Eyes	May cause irritation, redness and pain.
More info	MSDS
Except where noted, all data was produced under conditions of standard temperature and pressure.

Potassium cyanate is an inorganic compound with the formula KOCN. It is the conjugate base of cyanic acid, HOCN. This reagent is used to prepare herbicide. Worldwide production of the potassium and sodium salts was 20 Mkg in 2006.

Preparation

KOCN is prepared urea with potassium carbonate at 400 °C:

2 OC(NH₂)₂ + K₂CO₃ → 2 KOCN + (NH₄)₂CO₃

The reaction produces a liquid. Intermediates and impurities include biuret, cyanuric acid, and potassium allophanate (KO₂CNHC(O)NH₂), as well as unreacted starting urea, but these species are unstable at 400 °C.

Potassium cyanate is often preferred to the sodium salt which is less soluble in water.

References

External links

• MSDS