Amalgamated zinc

Short description: Alloy of mercury and zinc

Amalgamated zinc is zinc that has been surface treated with mercury to form a surface amalgam containing little contamination from other elements. It is typically used for reduction, and is written as Zn(Hg) in reactions.

## Applications

* Used from ~1837 to reduce 'local action' which degraded operation of Voltaic piles. See History of the battery.
* To chemically reduce metallic ions in solution. See Jones reductor.
* To reduce ketones and aldehydes to alkanes via the Clemmensen reduction in acidic conditions.

## References

0.00

(0 votes)

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Chemistry:Amalgamated_zinc&oldid=3870565"