Potassium Thiocyanate

Potassium thiocyanate is an important salt of the thiocyanate anion, one of the pseudohalides. The compound has a low melting point relative to most other inorganic salts. Aqueous KSCN reacts almost quantitatively with Pb(NO3)2 to give Pb(SCN)2, which has been used to convert acyl chlorides to thiocyanates.KSCN converts ethylene carbonate to ethylenesulfide. For this purpose, the KSCN is first melted under vacuum to remove water. In a related reaction, KSCN converts cyclohexene oxide to the corresponding episulfide. C6H10O + KSCN → C6H10S + KOCN, KSCN is also the starting product for the synthesis of carbonyl sulfide.