title: Cadmium acetate
text: # Cadmium acetate
  
  Cadmium acetate is the chemical compound with the formula $Cd(O_2CCH_3)_2(H_2O)_2.$ The compound is marketed both as the anhydrous form and as a dihydrate, both of which are white or colorless. Only the dihydrate has been verified by X-ray crystallography.
  
  ## Preparation, reactions, and uses
  
  It forms by treating cadmium oxide with acetic acid:
  
      CdO + 2 $CH_3CO_2H$ + $H_2O$ → $Cd(O_2CCH_3)_2(H_2O)_2$
  
  It can also be prepared by treating cadmium nitrate with acetic anhydride.
  
  Cadmium acetate has few applications. By reaction with trioctylphosphine selenide, it has often been used as a precursor to cadmium selenide and related semiconductors.
  
  ## Structure of the dihydrate
  
  Unlike the coordination geometry of zinc in zinc diacetate dihydrate, cadmium is seven coordinate in $Cd(O_2CCH_3)_2(H_2O)_2.$ It is a coordination polymer, featuring acetate ligands interconnecting cadmium centers.
  
  ## Safety
  
  Cadmium compounds are considered Group 1 carcinogens by the IARC.
  
  