chemistry

Silver diethyldithiocarbamate

Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Silver diethyldithiocarbamate rather than just read about it. In short: Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is a chemical compound, with formula AgS2CN(CH2CH3)2. It is the silver salt of diethyldithiocarbamic acid; the latter is a well-known chelator of heavy metals.

Key takeaways

Silver diethyldithiocarbamate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Silver diethyldithiocarbamate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Silver diethyldithiocarbamate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is a chemical compound, with formula AgS2CN(CH2CH3)2. It is the silver salt of diethyldithiocarbamic acid; the latter is a well-known chelator of heavy metals. In most of its applications, silver diethyldithiocarbamate resembles the cheaper sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, but it is uniquely insoluble in water. That property makes it a useful analytical reagent for determining arsenic concentrations.

Preparation Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can be prepared by mixing a solution sodium diethyldithiocarbamate with a solution of silver nitrate. A precipitate forms immediately and can be filtered to isolate from the rest of the mixture. The solid should then be rinsed with hot water in order to remove the residual acid salt that will be present.

Application Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can be applied to introduce the diethyldithiocarbamate ligand to a coordination compound. Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can also be used to detect Nitrogen monooxide in the brain and other tissue. These applications are similar to the applications of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, which is more practical to use from a synthetic and toxicological perspective.

Determination of arsenic concentration

The solubility of silver diethyldithiocarbamate, compared to sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, allows it to be used to determine arsenic concentrations in water. Silver diethyldithiocarbamate dissolved in pyridine appears as an intensely yellow-colored solution. Arsenic ions are transferred to an arsine generating flask and diluted with water. Sulfuric acid, potassium iodide solution, and stannous chloride dihydrate are diluted in a solution of concentrated hydrochloric acid and mixed. The apparatus is plugged loosely with lead acetate wool, which acts as a scrubber. The pyridine and silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution is added to the tube and serves as the absorber solution. Granulated zinc is added to the arsine generator flask, which will result in the production of hydrogen because of the presence of acid. The arsine is carried through the tube by the generated hydrogen gas. The arsine reacts with the silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution and forms red-colored products (535 nm). Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy can be used to determine the concentration of arsenic can be calculated based on Beer's Law. The red product is a result of arsine bubbling through the silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution and there are two likely products responsible for the color change. One is arsenic substituting the silver in diethyldithiocarbamate, resulting a coordination compound in which three diethyldithiocarbamate ligands are bound to an arsenic atom (Figure 1). The other product is a result of the reduction of silver diethyldithiocarbamate (Figure 2). This method for determination of arsenic concentration is applicable to not only waste water and mineral water but also petroleum, the human body, various foods and ores, and pyrolysis gasses. There have been reports of silver diethyldithiocarbamate being modified into an electrode to be used for similar purposes. This method of determining arsenic levels in water is compared to the Gutzeit procedure and has the advantages of faster hydrogen gas absorption and more objective color interpretation.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Silver diethyldithiocarbamate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Silver diethyldithiocarbamate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Silver diethyldithiocarbamate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Silver diethyldithiocarbamate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Silver diethyldithiocarbamate

In research: Silver diethyldithiocarbamate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Silver diethyldithiocarbamate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dithiocarbamates, Silver compounds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Silver diethyldithiocarbamate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Silver diethyldithiocarbamate” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Silver diethyldithiocarbamate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Silver diethyldithiocarbamate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Silver diethyldithiocarbamate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Silver diethyldithiocarbamate in simple terms?

Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is a chemical compound, with formula AgS2CN(CH2CH3)2. It is the silver salt of diethyldithiocarbamic acid; the latter is a well-known chelator of heavy metals.

Why does Silver diethyldithiocarbamate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Silver diethyldithiocarbamate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Silver diethyldithiocarbamate.