Berylium Arsenite

Description

Beryllium Arsenite could be prepared by the solidstate reactions of the oxide and solid arsenous acid:
BeO +H3AsO3 + heat ? BeHAsO3 +H2O
At a 2:1 ratio and a pH of 13.5, one would expect to obtain Be3(AsO3)2. However, there is no record of this having been attempted. Attempts to prepare definite compounds of beryllium with arsenious acid in aqueous solution have not been successful. When beryllium hydroxide is precipitated from solutions containing arsenious oxide, much of the latter is adsorbed but a product has never been isolated and identified. The literature is devoid of any references and the only citations are dated in the 1860–1880s. Perhaps this is due to the fact that beryllium cations in aqueous solution are dominated by hydroxy groups which attach themselves to Be²⁺ to form species like Be(OH)⁺. These do not react the same in solution as the other alkaline earths do.