Potassium cyanide

Potassium cyanide
Molecular formula	KCN
Molar mass	65.12 g/mol
CAS number	[151-50-8]
EINECS number	205-792-3
Density	1.52 g/cm³
Solubility (water)	71.6 g/100 ml (25°C)
Melting point	634°C
Thermodynamic data
Standard enthalpy of formation Δ_fH°_solid	−131.5 kJ/mol
Standard molar entropy S°_solid	127.8 J.K^–1.mol^–1
Safety data
EU classification	Very toxic (T+) Dangerous for the environment (N)
R-phrases	R26/27/28, R32 R50/53
S-phrases	S1/2, S7, S28, S29 S45, S60, S61
PEL (US: OSHA)	5 mg/m³ (TWA) (as CN)
IDLH (US: OSHA)	25 mg/m³ (as CN)
RTECS number	TS8750000
Disclaimer and references

Potassium cyanide or KCN is the salt of potassium and hydrogen cyanide. It is a colorless compound with smell of almonds, similar in appearance to sugar and highly soluble in water. Despite being highly toxic, it is one of the few substances that form soluble compounds with gold, and thus is used in jewellery for chemical gilding and buffing. It is also sometimes used in gold mining for chemical extraction of metal from ore (though sodium cyanide is more commonly used). This was sometimes used as rat poison until the 1970s.

Contents

1 Physiological effects

1.1 Antidotal Agents
1.2 Glucose
1.3 Suicide

2 Potassium cyanide In fiction

3 See also

4 External links

Physiological effects

As all cyanides, potassium cyanide is a potent poison blocking the cells' electron transport chain by forming a permanent bind with the iron atom in heme of cytochromes. The result is disruption of the cell's respiration.

The effects of potassium cyanide are similar to sodium cyanide. Once more than 3–4 mg of potassium cyanide is consumed, consciousness is lost within one minute, sometimes within 10 seconds, depending on the strength of the body's immunity and the amount of food present in the stomach. After a span of about 45 minutes, the body goes into a state of coma or deep sleep and the person may die within two hours if not treated medically. During this period, convulsions may occur. Death occurs mainly by cardiac arrest.

Antidotal Agents

The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS/CEC Evaluation of Antidotes Series). This survey lists the following antidotal agents and their effects: Oxygen, sodium thiosulfate, amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, 4-dimethylaminophenol, hydroxocobalamin, and dicobalt edetate.

Glucose

Template:Sectfact There is evidence from animal experiments that coadministration of glucose protects against cobalt toxicity associated with the antidote agent dicobalt edetate. For this reason, glucose is often administered alongside this agent (e.g. in the formulation 'Kelocyanor').

It has also been anecdotally suggested that glucose is itself an effective counteragent to cyanide, reacting with it to form less toxic compounds that can be eliminated by the body. One theory on the apparent immunity of Gregory Rasputin to cyanide was that his killers put the poison in sweet pastries and madeira wine, both of which are rich in sugar; thus, Rasputin would have been administered the poison together with massive quantities of antidote. One study found a reduction in cyanide toxicity in mice when the cyanide was first mixed with glucose[1] (http://www.sertox.com.ar/retel/n07/02.pdf). However, as yet glucose on its own is not an officially acknowledged antidote to cyanide poisoning.

Suicide

Potassium cyanide is occasionally used as a means for committing suicide. The drug has been effectively used by soldiers to commit suicide rather than reveal secrets under torture. Both Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler are reputed to have used cyanide pills or tablets to commit suicide (in Hitler's case, simultaneously with gunshot).