Talk:Potassium cyanate

Structure is incorrect?
Hey, the structure drawn is wrong. It should be KOCN, not KNCO. That's potassium ISOcyanate — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.12.78.250 (talk) 15:35, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree, the structure is incorrect. In addition to the electroneutrality principle, which predicts that electrons will be distributed in such a way that the charges on all atoms of a species are as close to zero as possible, Linus Pauling noted that if a negative charge is present, it should reside on the most electronegative atoms. The Pauling electronegativities of nitrogen and oxygen are 3.0 and 3.5, respectively. Therefore I would predict that the structure would be K+ O- (single bond) C (triple bond) N. 172.77.213.176 (talk) 22:51, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Some editor will eventually upload an image based on crystal coordinates, but this material adopts a polymeric structure, like related species. Its structure is probably similar to that the corresponding azide.  We are just behind gathering such data and converting those data to images. The real question will likely center on whether the structure is ordered (O's vs N's), but the distinction between KNCO and KOCN is probably not very relevant to anything. --Smokefoot (talk) 05:04, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Smell and Taste of Potassium Cyanate
I note that some sources indicate that Potassium Cyanate reacts with water to produce Potassium Carbonate and Ammonium Carbonate. This would mean that the Potassium Cyanate would likely taste bitter (due to the Potassium ions or Potassium Carbonate). Ammonium Carbonate is meant to be a component of smelling salts, which induce an inhaling reflex and would be quite distinctive (presumably inducing a reflex not entirely dissimilar to Menthol sweets). Are these assertions true?

ASavantDude (talk) 18:40, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Properties
What is under "Properties" should be part of "Preparation and Reactions".

Colo(u)r: "white" is a color. "Clear" is colo(u)rless. Potassium cyanate is a white powder. Perhaps large, single crystals are clear? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.2.26.130 (talk) 01:06, 1 August 2023 (UTC)