Barium acetate is the barium salt of acetic acid, with the chemical formula . It is used in chemistry and manufacturing as a soluble source of barium and is toxic to humans.
Barium acetate is generally produced by the reaction of acetic acid with barium carbonate:
The reaction is performed in solution and the barium acetate crystalizes out at temperatures above 41 ðC. Between 25 and 40 ðC, the monohydrate version crystalizes. Alternatively, barium sulfide can be used:
Again, the solvent is evaporated off and the barium acetate crystallized.
Barium acetate is a white powder, which is highly soluble: at 0 ðC, 55.8 g of barium acetate can be dissolved in 100 g of water.
Barium acetate can be used in metathesis reactions.
When heated in air, barium acetate decomposes to barium carbonate.
Barium acetate is used as a mordant for printing textile fabrics, for drying paints and varnishes, and in lubricating oil. In chemistry, it is used in the preparation of other acetates, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis.
Barium acetate was featured in a 2001 episode of the television series Forensic Files, recounting the 1993 murder of a man by his teenaged daughter (Marie Robards). That episode and other crime documentaries about the Robards do not name the chemical.
Barium acetate was featured in a 2014 episode of the crime documentary series Redrum.
Barium acetate was named as the choice poison of a teen's murder of her father in an episode of Deadly Women.