A Study on Thermal Decomposition of K3[Fe（CN）6] and KFe[Fe（CN）6] in Helium

K3 [Fe(CN)6] and KFe[Fe(CN)6] are classical coordination compounds. However, the mechanism of decomposition reactions has not been well expounded. The gas products of thermal decomposition were examined by gas chroma tography (GC) , and the structure of the solid products by Mossbauer spectroscopy(MS) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The findings are explained in terms of the theory of coordination chemistry and a decomposition mechanism is proposed in this study. On the basis of various experimental results, the first stage of the decomposition of K3[Fe(CN)6] in He was found to be the evolution of(CN)2 resulting in the reduction of Fe(Ⅲ)12K3 [Fe(CN)6]→9K4[Fe(CN)6] + Fe2 [Fe(CN)6] + 6 ( CN )For KFe [Fe(CN) 6 ], the first stage of decomposition man be represented as6KFe[Fe(CN)6]→3K2Fe[Fe(CN)6] + 2Fe2[Fe(CN)6 + 3(CN)2At higher temperatures, the decomposition of both K3[Fe(CN)6) andKFe[Fe(CN)6] to form KCN and Fe2C was accomplished by the release of(CN)2 and N2.