Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Chemical properties of disodium chloride?

m1tanker78 - 12-3-2011 at 14:39

No, it's not a typo. Disodium chloride or Na2Cl....

Can the molecule exist in normal atmospheric conditions? If so, what are the basic chemical properties of this molecule such as reactivity with water, air, appearance, density, etc.

My web searching turned up only two references to this molecule one of which was a simple model and nomenclature but no other info. The other was a scientific paper which I don't have access to where it's listed as an ingredient apparently for a titration. Assuming it isn't just a theoretical substance, I'm hoping somebody has some references to it in a text book or an online publication.

Tom

UKnowNotWatUDo - 12-3-2011 at 14:48

I would assume it would have to be some sort of coordination complex with an overall cationic charge, but I have no idea what its properties would be or its possible uses.

m1tanker78 - 12-3-2011 at 18:22

It's also listed as an inactive ingredient in some eye drops. Sodium chloride is another inactive ingredient which makes it a little more believable. Still can't find any data on this Na2Cl...

Tom

Sedit - 12-3-2011 at 18:47

Can you please list all the ingredients to make more sense of the situation.

m1tanker78 - 12-3-2011 at 18:55

@Sedit:

***** ******* ******** Eye Drops

Drug Facts
Active Ingredients

Dextran 70 (0.1%)...........................................................(Lubricant)

Hypromellose 2910 (0.3%)...............................................(Lubricant)

Inactive Ingredients: Benzalkonium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Disodium Chloride, Sodium Borate, Sodium Chloride, Boric Acid, Sterile Water, Purified Water, Sodium Chloride, and Sodium Citrate.

Edit: I just noticed that sodium chloride is listed twice in the inactive ingredients. Weird.

Edit2: Removed product name.

Tom

[Edited on 3-13-2011 by m1tanker78]

[Edited on 3-14-2011 by m1tanker78]

m1tanker78 - 12-3-2011 at 19:10

I also found it in a formulation of eye drops manf'd by ****** * **** called **********. The active ingredient is listed as hexamidine di-isethoinate. Inactive ingredients are:

Disodium chloride, boric acid, borax and purified water.

Edit: Removed company and product names.

Tom

[Edited on 3-14-2011 by m1tanker78]

Sedit - 12-3-2011 at 20:05

I dunno man, it sounds stupid to me but then again im stupid.

Im left to assume its something strange that exist in solution and they lable it this and that.

m1tanker78 - 12-3-2011 at 23:10

Quote: Originally posted by Sedit  
I dunno man, it sounds stupid to me but then again im stupid.

Im left to assume its something strange that exist in solution and they lable it this and that.


Don't beat yourself up Sedit! Yeah, I'm surprised they listed "purified water" and not "dihydrogen monoxide" :D

It's more a curiosity to me than anything else. It's probably some complex which they write in short form to save space on the labels or something. Oh well...

Tom

a_bab - 13-3-2011 at 00:31

Sodium dicloride, just as calcium dioxide or magnesium monochloride can only exist in special conditions such as 50 000 degrees C plasma flames.

woelen - 13-3-2011 at 01:19

Na2Cl does not exist, despite the mentioning of it in some ingredient lists. It would at once decompose to NaCl and Na.

Mixell - 13-3-2011 at 02:35

According to some source (http://openmopac.net/data_normal/disodium%20chloride,%20cati...)
Disodium chloride is a complex cation, there is some additional information on on that specific cation (only some data such as enthalpy) and on some other very unique cations and substances in general.

woelen - 13-3-2011 at 05:56

@Mixell, what you are talking about is not Na2Cl, but the cationic species Na2Cl(+). It is imaginable that in certain solvents a set of ions associates to Na2Cl(+) groups. In this cation, both sodium and chlorine are at their normal most stable oxidation state (+1 and -1 resp.).

Mixell - 13-3-2011 at 07:16

Well, I assumed that he was talking about the cationic species, probably the ingredient list also refers to the cationic species (as they often write "sodium" when they mean the cation Na(+) of sodium chloride).

m1tanker78 - 13-3-2011 at 08:07

Quote:
It would at once decompose to NaCl and Na.


Woelen, that's what I'm afraid of. Do you remember the video I sent you a few days back? It's pretty safe to rule out Na2Cl, right?

Tom

Pyrovus - 13-3-2011 at 08:35

Neutral disodium chloride would be a very transient species. You can get a Na2+ cation, the analog of the more familiar hydrogen radical cation, and I guess you could perhaps pair that with with a chloride ion if you really wanted to. But don't expect it to last for very long - the hydrogen radical cation doesn't tend to hang around for long when any other molecules are present for it to react with (it can survive for a while on its own in space), and the disodium cation is more weakly bound than the dihydrogen cation. In any medium denser than interstellar space, any 'disodium chloride' would encounter lots of molecules to react with and be gone in an instant. So I'd be very surprised if such an exotic and transient compound was present in something as mundane as eye drops - it would be akin to discovering helium-8 in party balloons, or an extension cord that operates using muons instead of electrons to carry current.

So, neutral disodium chloride can probably be ruled out. The 'disodium chloride' could be a fancy charged complex, but I'm guessing that it's just a simple misprint.

woelen - 13-3-2011 at 09:48

Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78  
Quote:
It would at once decompose to NaCl and Na.


Woelen, that's what I'm afraid of. Do you remember the video I sent you a few days back? It's pretty safe to rule out Na2Cl, right?

Tom

Absolutely, Na2Cl certainly can be ruled out.

Nicodem - 13-3-2011 at 11:22

Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78  
I also found it in a formulation of eye drops manf'd by Bausch & Lomb called Desomedine. The active ingredient is listed as hexamidine di-isethoinate. Inactive ingredients are:

Disodium chloride, boric acid, borax and purified water.

If the PR department taking care of product labelling in that corporation knew how seriously are their ingredients lists taken, they would be proud of themselves and their typos (or ignorance).

But seriously, where did you got the idea that a compound like Na2Cl could exist when you can not find a single literature reference?

Paradoxically, it might get into existence, though only virtual, by the help of this very thread. A google search on "disodium chloride" gives this thread as the second hit and I bet it will soon get on top.

m1tanker78 - 13-3-2011 at 15:30

@Woelen: Thanks, it's history as far as I'm concerned.

@Nicodem: I edited out the specific company and product names from my posts. I think your reply is the only one that still has the company name in the quote box.

Tom

[Edited on 3-14-2011 by m1tanker78]