Cadmium cyanide is an inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 Cd(CN)₂. This white crystalline compound is used in electroplating. It is very toxic, along with other cadmium

Cadmium

Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...

 and cyanide

Cyanide

A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....

 compounds.

Usage

It is used as an electrolyte

Electrolyte

In chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that make the substance electrically conductive. The most typical electrolyte is an ionic solution, but molten electrolytes and solid electrolytes are also possible....

 for electrodeposition of thin metallic cadmium coatings on metal to protect against corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

.

Preparation and structure

Cadmium cyanide is prepared by treating cadmium hydroxide

Cadmium hydroxide

Cadmium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula Cd2. It is a white crystalline ionic compound that is a key component of NiCd batteries.-Preparation and reactions:...

 with hydrogen cyanide:

Cd(OH)₂ + 2 HCN → Cd(CN)₂ + 2 H₂O

It adopts a diamondoid structure, like Zn(CN)₂.

Reactions

Like zinc cyanide, cadmium cyanide is fairly soluble in water, which is unusual for metal cyanides. The solubility increases with the additional cyanide, this reaction proceeding via "[Cd(CN)₃]^-" and [Cd(CN)₄]^2-. With acids, its solutions evolve hydrogen cyanide.