Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) is the inorganic compound with the formula . This orange-red, water-soluble cerium salt is a specialised oxidizing agent in organic synthesis and a standard oxidant in quantitative analysis.
Preparation, properties, and structure
The anion is generated by dissolving cerium(III) oxide| in hot and concentrated nitric acid ().
The salt consists of the hexanitratocerate(IV) anion and a pair of ammonium cations . The ammonium ions are not involved in the oxidising reactions of this salt. In the anion each nitrate group chelates the cerium atom in a bidentate manner as shown below: