Difference Between Copper Hydroxide and Copper Oxychloride

The key difference between copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride is that copper hydroxide is an inorganic compound, while copper oxychloride is an organic compound.

Both copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride are important as fungicides. Copper oxychloride is useful mainly as a fungicide while copper hydroxide is an alternative for fungicides. Copper hydroxide is also used in the production of rayon, a cellulose fibre. Moreover, copper hydroxide is a bluish-green solid while copper oxychloride is a green crystalline solid.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Copper Hydroxide 
3. What is Copper Oxychloride
4. Side by Side Comparison – Copper Hydroxide vs Copper Oxychloride in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Copper Hydroxide?

Copper hydroxide is an inorganic compound having the chemical formula Cu(OH)₂. It is the hydroxide of copper. Moreover, this compound occurs as a bluish-green solid. It is a weak base. In the laboratory,  we can also produce copper hydroxide by adding sodium hydroxide into a dilute solution of copper sulfate (hydrated form). However, it occurs naturally as the mineral serpentinite.

Furthermore, we can determine the structure of this compound using X-ray crystallography. Here, the copper atom is in the centre, and it has the geometry square pyramidal. The molar mass of this compound is 97.56 g/mol. The melting point is 80 °C, and it decomposes into CuO (copper oxide) upon further heating. Moreover, the solubility of this compound in water is negligible. When considering the uses of copper hydroxide, it is important in producing rayon, used in aquariums to destroy external parasites on fish, useful as an alternative for fungicides, etc.

What is Copper Oxychloride?

Copper oxychloride is an organic compound having the chemical formula Cu₂(OH)₃Cl. The IUPAC name of this compound is dicopper chloride trihydroxide. It occurs as a green crystalline solid. Moreover, we can find it in mineral deposits, metal corrosion products, archaeological objects, etc. In the industrial scale, we produce this compound to be used as a fungicide. The molar mass is 213.56 g/mol. Also, the melting point of this compound is 250 °C, and it is insoluble in water and organic solvents.

Naturally, copper oxychloride occurs in four different polymorphic structures: atacamite, paratacamite, clinoatacamite and botallackite. These different polymorphs have different crystal structures:

• Atacamite – orthorhombic
• Paratacamite – rhombohedral
• Clinoatacamite – monoclinic
• Botallackite – monoclinic

Above 220 °C, this compound undergoes decomposition. During this decomposition, it eliminates HCl acid. In a neutral medium, this compound is very stable. But, if it is an alkaline medium and if we warm the medium, then this compound decomposes, giving oxides of copper.

What is the Difference Between Copper Hydroxide and Copper Oxychloride?

The key difference between copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride is that copper hydroxide is an inorganic compound, while copper oxychloride is an organic compound. Further, copper hydroxide appears as a bluish-green solid while copper oxychloride appears as a green crystalline solid.

Moreover, copper hydroxide occurs naturally as the mineral serpentinite while copper oxychloride occurs in mineral deposits, metal corrosion products, archaeological objects, etc.

The below infographic summarizes the difference between copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride.

Summary – Copper Hydroxide vs Copper Oxychloride

Generally, copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride are important as fungicides. The key difference between copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride is that copper hydroxide is useful as an alternative for fungicides, whereas copper oxychloride is a fungicide that we commonly use.

Reference:

1. “Copper(II) Hydroxide.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Copper(II) hydroxide” By Nebraska bob at English Wikipedia – Originally from en.wikipedia (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “AtacamiteB” By Nutriquest1 – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia