Beryllium nitrate is an inorganic compound with the idealized chemical formula Be(NO3)2. The formula suggests a salt, but, as for many beryllium compounds, the compound is highly covalent. Little of its chemistry is well known. "When added to water, brown fumes are evolved; when hydrolyzed in sodium hydroxide solution, both nitrate and nitrite ions are produced."[1]
The straw-colored adduct Be(NO3)2(N2O4) forms upon treatment of beryllium chloride with dinitrogen tetroxide:
BeCl2 + 3N2O4 → Be(NO3)2(N2O4) + 2NOClUpon heating, this adduct loses N2O4 and produces colorless Be(NO3)2. Further heating of Be(NO3)2 induces conversion to basic beryllium nitrate, which adopts a structure akin to that for basic beryllium acetate.
Unlike the basic acetate, with its six lipophilic methyl groups, the basic nitrate is insoluble in most solvents.