Potassium ethyl xanthate Potassium ethyl xanthate Potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX) is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CHCHOCSK. It is a pale yellow powder that is used in the mining industry for the separation of ores. Unlike the related sodium ethyl xanthate, the potassium salt exists as an anhydrous salt. Xanthate salts are prepared by the action of alkoxides on carbon disulfide. The alkoxide is often generated in situ from potassium hydroxide: Potassium ethyl xanthate is a pale yellow powder that is stable at high pH but rapidly hydrolyses at pH <9 at 25 °C. Unlike the sodium derivative, potassium xanthate crystallizes
Ethyl Gasoline Corp. v. United States laws, and accordingly was illegal when its effect was to "regiment" an entire industry. Ethyl owned several patents on tetra-ethyl lead, an anti-knock fuel additive, and on its utilization: two patents on the chemical itself, a patent on a motor fuel—gasoline containing tetra-ethyl lead, and a patent on a method of using the fuel in an automobile engine. Ethyl established an elaborate licensing program under its several patents: Ethyl sold the fuel additive, and licensed purchasers to use it to practice the other patents. The licensing program fixed prices for the motor fuel and strictly limited the types of customer