Carbon monoxide

Description

An odorless, colorless, tasteless, and highly poisonous gas. Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon containing materials. It is used in organic synthesis and metallurgy.

Synonyms and Related Terms

carbon oxide; carbonic oxide; monoxyde de carbone (Fr.)

Other Properties

Soluble in ethanol and some organic solvents. Slightly soluble in water. Burns with a light blue flame.

Composition	CO
CAS	630-08-0
Melting Point	-205.0
Molecular Weight	mol. wt. = 28.0
Boiling Point	-191.5

Hazards and Safety

Very toxic by inhalation. Good ventilation should always be used with furnaces, kilns, stoves, gas engines and space heaters.

Very flammable. Forms explosive mixture when mixed with air.

LINK: International Chemical Safety Card

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 144

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 1861

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000