Turnbull's blue and Prussian blue: KFe(III)[Fe(II ... - ACS Publications

Lee D. Hansen. William M. Litchman, and Guido H. Daub' University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106

I

Textbook Errors, 86

I

Turnbull's Blue and Prussian Blue: ~~e(lll)[h(ll)(~~)~

I

M o s t textbooks1 correctly state that Turnbull's blue (KFe[Fe(CN)6], prepared from an Fe(I1) salt and [Fe(III)(CN)6]3-) and prussian blue (KFelFe(CNL1. vre~ared from an Fe(II1) salt .and . -., . . ~, [ F ~ ( I I ) ( c N ) ~ ] ~are - ) identical in all re~pects;~ however, it is commonly reported that the oxidation states of the iron atoms in I