Dissolve 20 g (0.21 mole) (NH4)2CO3 in 60 ml water and add 60 ml of concentrated ammonium hydroxide. While stirring, pour this solution into a solution containing 15 g (0.052 mole) [Co(OH2)6](NO3)2 in 30 ml of water. Then slowly add 8 ml of a 30 per cent H2O2 solution (wear gloves!). Pour the solution into an evaporating dish on a hot plate in the hood and concentrate to 90 to 100 ml. Do not allow the solution to boil. During the evaporation, add, in small portions, 5 g (0.05 mole) ammonium carbonate.
Suction filter the hot solution and cool the filtrate in an ice water bath. Under suction, filter off the red product crystals. Wash the product [Co(NH3)4CO3]NO3 in the filtration apparatus first with a few ml of water, and then with a similar amount of ethanol. Calculate the yield.
Experiment from Synthesis and Technique in Inorganic Chemistry, Angelici, R.; J. W. B. Sanders Company: Philadelphia, 1969.
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