Antimonite

This article is about the class of chemical salts. For the mineral, see stibnite.

Antimonite (stibnit) - Baia Mare, Herja Mine, Romania.

In chemistry, antimonite refers to a salt of antimony(III), such as NaSb(OH)₄ and NaSbO₂ (meta-antimonite), which can be prepared by reacting alkali with antimony trioxide, Sb₂O₃.^[1] These are formally salts of antimonous acid,^[2] Sb(OH)₃, whose existence in solution is dubious. Attempts to isolate it generally form Sb₂O₃·xH₂O, antimony(III) oxide hydrate, which slowly transforms into Sb₂O₃.^[1]

In geology, the mineral stibnite, Sb₂S₃, is sometimes called antimonite.

Antimonites can be compared to antimonates, which contain antimony in the +5 oxidation state.

References

1. Egon Wiberg, Arnold Frederick Holleman (2001) Inorganic Chemistry, Elsevier ISBN 0-12-352651-5
2. Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. doi:10.1016/C2009-0-30414-6. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8.