How do you prepare iron III chloride safely in a lab in detail?

Answer 1

Anhydrous iron(III) chloride may be prepared by union of the elements:

2 Fe(s) + 3 Cl2(g) → 2 FeCl3(s)

Alternatively, iron(II) chloride can be oxidised with sulfur dioxide:

32 FeCl2 + 8 SO2 + 32 HCl → 32 FeCl3 + S8 + 16 H2O

"Anhydrous metal chlorides may be obtained from hydrated metal chlorides by refluxing in freshly distilled thionyl chloride:

MCln·xH2O + x SOCl2 → MCln + x SO2 + 2x HCl"

However, while one has avoided working with Chlorine gas (per the first synthesis) be aware that SOCl2 reacts violently (explosively) with water releasing gases which will be formed on heating a hydrated salt, so perform this reaction with appropriate safety measures.