The electrochemical generation of small amounts of hydrogen cyanide.

Hydrogen cyanide was generated by constant-current oxidation of an aqueous solution of potassium thiocyanate at a platinum wire anode. In a solution of 0.1M potassium thiocyanate and 0.01M potassium sulphate at a nitrogen flow-rate of 3.5-5.0 ml sec , the rate of production of HCN was a linear function of the generation current I from 10 to 200 microA. The relative standard deviation for an HCN production rate of 6.07 ng sec (I = 130 microA) was 1.8% and that for 0.92 ng sec (I = 20 microA) was 5.9%. The time required to establish steady-state production after a change in the generation current was 10 min.