Space-filling model of cacodyl

Cacodyl, dicacodyl, tetramethyldiarsine, alkarsine or Cadet's liquid (after the French chemist Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt) (CH₃)₂As—As(CH₃)₂ is a poisonous oily liquid with a garlicky odor. Cacodyl undergoes spontaneous combustion in dry air. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1100x915, 239 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Cacodyl ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1100x915, 239 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Cacodyl ...

Jöns Jakob Berzelius coined the name kakodyl (later changed to cacodyl) for the dimethylarsinyl radical, (CH₃)₂As, from the Greek kakodes (evil-smelling) and hyle (matter). Jöns Jakob Berzelius Statue of Berzelius in the centre of Berzelii Park, Stockholm Jöns Jakob Berzelius (August 20, 1779 - August 7, 1848) was a Swedish chemist. ...

It was investigated by Edward Frankland and Robert Bunsen and is considered one of the earliest organometallic compounds ever discovered. It was originally made from arsenic distilled with potassium acetate. Sir Edward Frankland (January 18, 1825 – August 9, 1899) was an English chemist. ... Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (31 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. ... Organometallic have classically been compounds having bonds between one or more metal atoms and one or more carbon atoms of an organyl group. ... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Atomic mass 74. ... General Name, Symbol, Number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 39. ... Acetate, or ethanoate, is the anion of a salt or ester of acetic acid. ...

In Bunsen's words "the smell of this body produces instantaneous tingling of the hands and feet, and even giddiness and insensibility...It is remarkable that when one is exposed to the smell of these compounds the tongue becomes covered with a black coating, even when no further evil effects are noticeable".

Work on cacodyl led Bunsen to the postulation of methyl radicals. In chemistry a methyl-group is a hydrophobic Alkyl functional group which is derived from methane (CH4). ... In chemistry free radicals are uncharged atomic or molecular species with unpaired electrons or an otherwise open shell configuration. ...

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