Ammonium - Ammonium Salts

Ammonium Salts

Ammonium cation is found in a variety of salts such as ammonium carbonate, ammonium chloride, and ammonium nitrate. Most simple ammonium salts are very soluble in water. An exception is ammonium hexachloroplatinate, the formation of which was once used as a test for ammonium. The ammonium salts of nitrate and especially perchlorate are highly explosive, in these cases ammonium is the reducing agent.

In an unusual process, ammonium ions form an amalgam. Such species are prepared by the electrolysis of an ammonium solution using a mercury cathode. This amalgam eventually decomposes to release ammonia and hydrogen.