Mössbauer Spectroscopy of Fe Xanthates

Abstract

Mössbauer spectroscopic studies indicate that, depending on pH, two different precipitates are formed when appropriate solutions of iron ions are mixed with ethyl xanthate solutions. Below pH 3.5, ferric ethyl xanthate is obtained, regardless of whether ferric or ferrous reactants are used; ferrous xanthate can be obtained only with highly concentrated solutions and in strictly neutral or even reducing conditions. Above pH 3.5 a ferric hydroxy-xanthate, with one or more OH groups replacing the xanthate groups, is formed. No analogy with the Cu²⁺ → Cu⁺ reduction and the accompanying stoichiometric oxidation of xanthate to dixanthogen could be observed in the Fe³⁺ → Fe²⁺ systems, in which dixanthogen is detected only as a product of ferric xanthate decomposition in alkaline pH's.