82 
Mercurammonium  Chlorides. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1888. 
contained  more  mercury  than  those  under  I.,  due  to  the  solvent  power 
of  ammonium  chloride  upon  the  compounds  formed. 
II.  a.  The  above  supposition  .carried  out  in  the  cold  wit^  a  solu- 
tion containing  2  parts  mercuric  chloride  to  1  part  aramonhim  chloride. 
II.  b.    The  same  at  the  boiling  temperature. 
II.  c.  Is  the  product  gotten  by  the  action  of  sodium  carbonate,  in 
slight  excess,  on  equal  parts  of  mercuric  and  ammonium  chlorides,  no 
heat  being  applied. 
II.  d.    The  above  at  the  boiling  temperature. 
II.  e.    Boiling  the  above  for  thirty  minutes. 
III.  Represent  the  decomposition  products  of  I,  which  have  the 
formula  NHgHgCl,  by  boiling  with  large  quantities  of  water.  If 
boiled  with  water  after  washing  they  give  very  pale,  yellowish- white 
precipitates,  having  the  composition  NHggCl.  HgO ;  boiled  with  water 
containing  ammonium  chloride,  as  is  the  case  if  not  previously  washed, 
I.  may  be  converted  entirely  or  in  part  into  the  anhydrous  com- 
pound NHgaCl. 
III.  a.    Decomposition  product  of  I.  a. 
III.  b.  Same,  but  1.  a.  washed  for  a  week  with  cold  water  with- 
out thorough  decomposition,  finally  boiled  with  water. 
IV.  Are  decomposition  products  of  II.  While  experimenting 
with  these  it  was  noticed  that  if  the  mixture  containing  the  precipi- 
tate was  boiled  for  a  time,  the  liquid  decanted  and  the  precipitate  then 
boiled  with  several  portions  of  water,  a  deep  yellow  powder  was  ob- 
tained ;  while  if  the  mixture  was  placed  aside  until  cold,  filtered,  the 
precipitate  washed  and  then  boiled  with  water,  a  lighter  colored 
powder  was  obtained.  This  was  attributed  to  the  presence  of  ammo- 
nium chloride  which  possibly  changed  the  mercurammonium  chloride, 
yielding  a  whitish  decomposition  product,  into  mercurdiammonium 
chloride  yielding  a  deep  yellow  decomposition  product.  To  prove 
this  a  portion  of  I.  a  was  taken  and  boiled  for  a  few  minutes  with  a 
little  ammonium  chloride ;  on  subsequent  decomposition  the  product 
was  of  a  distinct  yellow  color,  showing  that  at  least  a  portion  had 
been  changed.  The  deep  yellow  colored  compound  is  the  anhydrous 
dimercurammonium  chloride,  and  can  also  be  made  from  the  hydrated 
by  heating  to  100°  C. 
lY.  a.    Product  of  11.  a,  with  washing  before  decomposition. 
lY.b.         "      "    II.  a,  without 
IV.  c.  IL  d, 
