Sodium perchlorate and other perchlorates has been found on the planet Mars, first detected by the NASA probe Phoenix in 2009. This was later confirmed by spectral analysis by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2015 of what is thought to be brine seeps which may be the first evidence of flowing liquid water containing hydrated salts on Mars.[1][2]
Its heat of formation is −382.75 kJ/mol, i.e. it is thermally stable up to high temperatures. At 490 °C it undergoes thermal decomposition, producing sodium chloride and dioxygen.[3]
It crystallizes in the rhombic crystal system.[4]
Because of its high solubility (2096 g/L at 25 °C) and the inert behaviour of dissolved perchlorate, solutions of NaClO4 are often used as unreactive background electrolyte (supporting electrolyte). Indeed, because the reduction reaction of perchlorate is kinetically limited even if it is a thermodynamically unstable compound, perchlorate is a redox non-sensitive anion. It is also a non-complexing anion with no ligand binding capacity.
Sodium perchlorate is the precursor to ammonium, potassium and lithium perchlorate salts, often taking advantage of their low solubility relative to NaClO4 (209 g/(100 mL) at 25 °C).[6]
Sodium perchlorate can be used to block iodine uptake before administration of iodinated contrast agents in patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (suppressed TSH).[7]
Chronic toxicity: the frequent consumption of drinking water with low concentrations (in the range of μg/L, ppb) of perchlorate is harmful for the thyroidgland as the perchlorate anion competes with the uptake of iodide.
^ abcHelmut Vogt; Jan Balej; John E. Bennett; Peter Wintzer; Saeed Akbar Sheikh; Patrizio Gallone (2000). "Chlorine Oxides and Chlorine Oxygen Acids". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a06_483. ISBN3-527-30673-0.
^Angus, Patricia M.; Jackson, W. Gregory (1994). "Linkage Isomerism in Cobalt(III) Pentaammine Complexes of 2-Pyridone". Inorganic Chemistry. 33 (3): 477–483. doi:10.1021/ic00081a014.
^Becker, C. (2007, September). Radiologisch praxisrelevante prophylaxe und therapie von nebenwirkungen jodhaltiger kontrastmittel. [Prophylaxis and treatment of side effects due to iodinated contrast media relevant to radiological practice]. Der Radiologe. 47(9), 768–773. doi:10.1007/s00117-007-1550-4
