Solution: Oxidation of the cyanide ion produces the stable
Chapter 13, Problem 13.90(choose chapter or problem)
Oxidation of the cyanide ion produces the stable cyanate ion (OCN2). The fulminate ion (CNO2), on the other hand, is very unstable. Fulminate salts explode when struck; Hg(CNO)2 is used in blasting caps. Write the Lewis structures and assign formal charges for the cyanate and fulminate ions. Why is the fulminate ion so unstable? (C is the central atom in OCN2, and N is the central atom in CNO2.)
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