Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
Nickel tetracarbonyl, like a lot of metal carbonyls, is an odd duck. Many complexes of metals and carbon monoxide don't act much like metal at all, and Ni(CO)4 isn't an exception. Nickel carbonyl is a liquid, but only just - it boils at 43C, or just above blood temperature. It's subject to lots of reactions, and just passing CO over impure nickel is a viable method of purifying nickel from a mixture (it will leave as the liquid or gas, depending on the temperature).
Unfortunately, it will give up that CO readily, including, as pointed out here, to certain vital enzymes, such as your hemoglobin and cytochromes. Chances are, you are working with more nickel carbonyl than you have essential enzymes. This often goes poorly.
Comments
Will Homeland Severity now be warrantlessly shaking down air travelers for small medallions of Thomas Jefferson and Odor Eaters? Nickel carbonyl was the magic way to thermally plate plutonium pits for fission devices. Electroplate trapped enough water that radiolysis caused gassing then blistering of the conformal metal coating.
Posted by: Uncle Al | January 18, 2007 1:02 PM
Great post, maybe we can have more moleculeoftheday's focusing on metal carbonyls?
Mitch
Posted by: Mitch | January 18, 2007 4:50 PM