Iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, $\ce{FeO(OH)}$ has two CAS numbers, 1310-14-1 and 20344-49-4. What's the difference between them?
Why does it have two CAS numbers? As I know, the CAS number should be unique to each substance.
Answer
Why does it have two CAS numbers? As I know, the CAS number should be unique to each substance.
Yes, that’s exactly the principle and also why two CAS reference numbers are associated with $\ce{FeO(OH)}$. SciFinder gives 20344-49-4 to be the ‘boring’ laboratory iron oxyhydroxide, while 1310-14-1 is mentioned as the mineral goethite. Goethite is the α form of $\ce{FeO(OH)}$; β (akaganéite), γ (lepidocrocite) and δ (feroxyhyte) forms exist, too.
Since each of these four minerals has a well-defined structure, much better defined than simple $\ce{FeO(OH)}$, they should (and will) each get a single CAS number for unambiguous referencing. At the same time, the generic CAS number 20344-49-4 also exists for lab-grade non-mineral $\ce{FeO(OH)}$.
So what you are experiencing is not a violation of the one-substance-one-CAS-number rule but rather a confirmation of its strictness.
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