Lithium cyanide

Lithium cyanide forms colorless crystals of rhombic syngony , space group P bnm , cell parameters a = 0.652 nm, b = 0.873 nm, c = 0.373 nm, Z = 4.

It is soluble in water.

When heated to high temperatures (> 600 ° C), lithium cyanide decomposes into lithium cyanamide and carbon .

In an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, when heated to similar temperatures, it decomposes to lithium oxide and nitrogen oxides .

It is displaced by stronger acids to form hydrocyanic acid and the corresponding lithium salts.

One of the methods for producing lithium cyanide is the interaction of lithium metal with a solution of hydrocyanic acid in benzene or with organic cyanonitriles.

A less common option is the interaction of butyllithium with a liquid strong acid, which can also form lithium cyanide.

Lithium cyanide is very toxic. It is formed in lithium acetonitrile batteries when reacted with sulfur dioxide . After throwing such batteries into a landfill, the ingress of water and moisture (in the presence of carbon dioxide from the air) leads to the release of hydrocyanic acid. The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense after the study concluded that the formation of hydrocyanic acid in lithium batteries is one of the main environmental factors that lead to lithium batteries. ^{[1] [2]}

• Chemistry Handbook / Editorial: Nikolsky B.P. et al. - 2nd ed., rev. - M.-L.: Chemistry, 1966. - T. 1. - 1072 p.
• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics . - 89th Edition. - Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, 2008-2009.