Reaction of a non-metal with alkali to produce hydrogen gas

Question

I want to ask that is there any non-metal which reacts with an alkali (NOT alkali metal) to produce hydrogen gas?

Does silicon count as a nonmetal? https://www.webelements.com/silicon/chemistry.html. — Oscar Lanzi, Aug 20 '16 at 03:04

Nilay Ghosh · Answer 1 · 2021-07-27T04:27:27.183

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By "non-metal", are you asking about elements that are not metals (that includes metalloids and non-metals) or non-metals by definition? Anyways, I'll stick to the latter. The non-metals include carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur, selenium, the halogens (except astatine) and the noble gases.

In short, the answer is: "non-metals that give reaction do not give hydrogen as product". We can find out by listing them:

Carbon: No reaction
Nitrogen: No reaction
Phosphorus: Give phosphine
Oxygen: No reaction
Sulfur: Depending on reaction conditions, it can various polysulfide species along with sodium thiosulfate and water
Selenium: Might give similar reactions to sulfur (couldn't find any reference)
All halogens reacts with sodium hydroxide
- Fluorine react to give oxygen(II) fluoride and fluoride ion (webelemets) $$\ce{2F2(g) + 2OH-(aq) → OF2(g) + 2F-(aq) + H2O(l)}$$
- Chlorine reacts with cold hydroxide to give chloride and oxychloride but with hot hydroxide it gives chlorate

$$\ce{2OH-(cold) + Cl2 -> Cl- + OCl- + H2O}$$ $$\ce{6OH-(hot) + Cl2 -> Cl- + ClO3- + H2O}$$

- Bromine and iodine esentially give the same reactions forming bromate(V) and iodate(V) respectively (chemguide)

No noble gas reacts with sodium hydroxide

edited Jul 27 '21 at 04:27

answered Aug 20 '16 at 04:59

Nilay Ghosh

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thanks for these but I asked for reaction of a NON-metal with an alkali though these reactions will be helpful – Shinjinee Maiti Aug 22 '16 at 10:13
@Shinjinee the above elements are all non-metal – Nilay Ghosh Aug 24 '16 at 10:51
?!? Al is a metal, as is tin unless you keep it in the cold for too long. – Karl Aug 27 '16 at 17:24
@Karl, they are non metal in normal conditions. – Nilay Ghosh Dec 07 '16 at 17:13
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Who on earth told you that? Both are good conductors (esp. Al), ductile, have a silvery surface. Yes, neither is as perfectly a "metallic" element as sodium or iron, but to call them non-metals is utterly ridiculous. – Karl Dec 07 '16 at 23:16

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 20 '16 at 02:37

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Since you didn't say "aqueous", boron fused with sodium hydroxide produces hydrogen and sodium borate.

answered Aug 20 '16 at 02:37

AlaskaRon

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This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - From Review – Klaus-Dieter Warzecha Aug 20 '16 at 05:53
Um... boron is a non-metal, sodium hydroxide is an alkali and hydrogen... is hydrogen. How can this NOT be an answer to the question? – AlaskaRon Aug 20 '16 at 07:05
However, if I'm really picky, I'd have to admit that boron is really a metalloid, and the real non-metals (halogens + O + N + C + P + S + Se) don't produce hydrogen when fused with sodium hydroxide. So if the OP means 'not a metal including metalloids' I'm ok... – AlaskaRon Aug 20 '16 at 07:19

Reaction of a non-metal with alkali to produce hydrogen gas

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