Cyanides How Toxic Are They? Are All Cyanides Deadly?
Potassium and sodium cyanides are iconic poisons. Murder mystery movies frequently feature one of these two substances as the cause of death. Their chemical formulas may be written more than one way. Most simplistically, they are KCN and NaCN. K stands for potassium (kalium), and Na stands for sodium (natrium). C is for carbon. N is for nitrogen. Another way of writing the chemical formulas of these substances is, K–C≡N and Na–C≡N. Both of these chemical compounds dissolve in water. This makes them especially dangerous, since if consumed, they can enter the bloodstream and travel to all of the bodies’ cells. KCN → K+ + CN- NaCN → Na+ + CN- Cyanides How Toxic? Organic Nitriles Organic nitriles are a kind of cyanide. For instance, acetonitrile is written, CH3CN But…