Chapter: 11th Chemistry : UNIT 4 : Hydrogen

Chemical properties and Uses of heavy water

Heavy water is widely used as moderator in nuclear reactors as it can lower the energies of fast neutrons.

Chemical properties of heavy water:

When compounds containing hydrogen are treated with D2O, hydrogen undergoes an exchange for deuterium

2NaOH + D2O → 2NaOD + HOD

HCl + D2O → DCl + HOD

NH4Cl + 4D2O → ND4Cl + 4HOD

These exchange reactions are useful in determining the number of ionic hydrogens present in a given compound.

For example, when D2O is treated with of hypo-phosphorus acid only one hydrogen atom is exchanged with deuterium. It indicates that, it is a monobasic acid.

H3PO2 + D2O → H2DPO2 + HDO

It is also used to prepare some deuterium compounds:

Al4C3 + 12D2O → 4Al(OD)3 + 3CD4

CaC2 + 2 D2O → Ca(OD)2 + C2D2

Mg3N2 + 6D2O → 3Mg(OD)2 + 2 ND3

Ca3P2 + 6D2O → 3Ca(OD)2 + 2PD3

Uses of heavy water:

1. Heavy water is widely used as moderator in nuclear reactors as it can lower the energies of fast neutrons

2. It is commonly used as a tracer to study organic reaction mechanisms and mechanism of metabolic reactions

3. It is also used as a coolant in nuclear reactors as it absorbs the heat generated.

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11th Chemistry : UNIT 4 : Hydrogen : Chemical properties and Uses of heavy water |