Sodium chromate

Production and reactivity

It is obtained on a vast scale by roasting chromium ores in air in the presence of sodium carbonate:

Cr₂O₃ + 2 Na₂CO₃ + 3/2 O₂ → 2 Na₂CrO₄ + 2 CO₂

This process converts the chromium into a water-extractable form, leaving behind iron oxides. Typically calcium carbonate is included in the mixture to improve oxygen access and to keep silicon and aluminium impurities in an insoluble form. The process temperature is typically around 1100 C. For lab and small scale preparations a mixture of chromite ore, sodium hydroxide and sodium nitrate reacting at lower temperatures may be used (even 350 C in the corresponding potassium chromate system). Subsequent to its formation, the chromate salt is converted to sodium dichromate, the precursor to most chromium compounds and materials. The industrial route to chromium(III) oxide involves reduction of sodium chromate with sulfur.

Acid-base behavior

It converts to sodium dichromate when treated with acids:

2 Na₂CrO₄ + 2HCl → Na₂Cr₂O₇ + 2NaCl + H₂O

Further acidification affords chromium trioxide:

Na₂CrO₄ + H₂SO₄ → CrO₃ + Na₂SO₄ + H₂O

Uses

Aside from its central role in the production of chromium from its ores, sodium chromate is used as a corrosion inhibitor in the petroleum industry. It is also a dyeing auxiliary in the textile industry and a wood preservative. It is a diagnostic pharmaceutical in determining red blood cell volume.

In organic chemistry, sodium chromate is used as an oxidant, converting primary alcohols to carboxylic acids and secondary alcohols to ketones.