Barium ferrate is the chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 of formula BaFeO₄. This compound contains iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 in the +6 oxidation state

Oxidation state

In chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. The formal oxidation state is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all bonds to atoms of different elements were 100% ionic. Oxidation states are typically represented by...

. It is isostructural with BaSO₄

Barium sulfate

Barium sulfate is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula BaSO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of barium and materials prepared from it...

, and contains the tetrahedral [FeO₄

Ferrate

In chemistry, ferrate refers either to the anion , in which iron is in the +6 oxidation state, or to a salt containing this anion. The term ferrate is often used to mean ferrate, although according to IUPAC naming conventions, it may also refer to other iron-containing oxyanions, such as ferrate...

]²⁻ anion.

Preparation and chemistry

Anhydrous barium ferrate can be prepared by precipitation from a solution containing potassium ferrate

Potassium ferrate

Potassium ferrate is the chemical compound with the formula K2FeO4. This purple salt is paramagnetic, and is a rare example of an iron compound. In most of its compounds, iron has the oxidation state +2 or +3...

 and barium chloride

Barium chloride

Barium chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula BaCl2. It is one of the most common water-soluble salts of barium. Like other barium salts, it is toxic and imparts a yellow-green coloration to a flame. It is also hygroscopic....

. Barium ferrate is an oxidising agent and has been proposed as an oxidising reagent for use in organic syntheses.