Attached to this thread are photographs of an unknown salt produced by liquifying a ~1:1 mixture of sodium acetate trihydrate (NaCH₃COO·3H₂O) and
glacial vinegar over low heat and allowing it to cool.
Pictured above is the structure of normal sodium acetate trihydrate.
Unlike the prismatic crystals produced by evaporation of a sodium acetate solution at room temperature, these crystals are cubic and greatly resemble
sodium chloride.
Their identity is currently unknown, but could either be anhydrous sodium acetate (NaCH₃COO) or a sodium-hydrogen acetate cocrystal
(NaHₓ(CH₃COO)ₓ₊₁·nH₂O), where 'x' is probably 1 but possibly 2 and 'n' is an unknown positive integer.
Precipitates - 11-6-2025 at 01:34
Perhaps sodium diacetate:
Attachment: Sodium_diacetate.pdf (437kB) This file has been downloaded 108 times
I was unable to ppen the pdf file above
Sulaiman - 11-6-2025 at 04:43
Precipitates - 12-6-2025 at 00:44
Sorry, here's the article title and DOI:
Crystal structures of some acid salts of monobasic acids. Part XVII. Structure of sodium hydrogen diacetate, redetermined by neutron diffraction https://doi.org/10.1039/P29750000015
Crystal structures of some acid salts of monobasic acids. Part XVII. Structure of sodium hydrogen diacetate, redetermined by neutron diffraction https://doi.org/10.1039/P29750000015
yeesh, it's strange to think that sometimes i feel like i'm pissing
into the wind. There's years of research in this article and it's completely inscrutable. However, it does mention that the 1:1 cocrystal of sodium
acetate and acetic acid have a cubic habit and tend to grow quite large, which lends pretty good evidence to the identity of the crystals I
photographed.
