An amount of 0.0025 mol of a soluble metal salt is dissolved in 15 mL of water. A volume
of 1 mL of pyridine is added to the solution in the hood. A solution of 0.4 g ammonium
thiocyanate in 5 mL of water is slowly added with stirring to the metal salt solution. If a decent
amount of precipitate forms it is filtered directly at this point. If necessary, the solution is
cooled in an ice bath until a good quantity of precipitate is obtained. The products is then
filtered through a Buchner funnel and washed three times with ethanol-pyridine (9:1). It is
then allowed to air dry for not more than 10 minutes and place in the dessicator. Once the
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product has dried for a week it is place it in a sealed, labeled bottle. Student yields range from