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Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve electrons moving via an electronically conducting phase between electrodes separated by an ionically conducting and electronically insulating electrolyte.
In chemistry, a reducing agent is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an electron recipient.
A galvanic cell or voltaic cell, named after the scientists Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta, respectively, is an electrochemical cell in which an electric current is generated from spontaneous oxidation–reduction reactions. An example of a galvanic cell consists of two different metals, each immersed in separate beakers containing their respective metal ions in solution that are connected by a salt bridge or separated by a porous membrane.
Mercury(II) chloride (or mercury bichloride, mercury dichloride), historically also known as sulema or corrosive sublimate, is the inorganic chemical compound of mercury and chlorine with the formula HgCl2, used as a laboratory reagent. It is a white crystalline solid and a molecular compound that is very toxic to humans. Once used as a treatment for syphilis, it is no longer used for medicinal purposes because of mercury toxicity and the availability of superior treatments.
Group 12, by modern IUPAC numbering, is a group of chemical elements in the periodic table. It includes zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and copernicium (Cn). Formerly this group was named IIB by CAS and old IUPAC system.
An alkaline battery is a type of primary battery where the electrolyte has a pH value above 7. Typically these batteries derive energy from the reaction between zinc metal and manganese dioxide.
Zinc chloride is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula ZnCl2·nH2O, with n ranging from 0 to 4.5, forming hydrates. Zinc chloride, anhydrous and its hydrates, are colorless or white crystalline solids, and are highly soluble in water. Five hydrates of zinc chloride are known, as well as four forms of anhydrous zinc chloride.
The chloralkali process is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions. It is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide, which are commodity chemicals required by industry. Thirty five million tons of chlorine were prepared by this process in 1987. In 2022, this had increased to about 83 million tonnes. The chlorine and sodium hydroxide produced in this process are widely used in the chemical industry.
Sodium amalgam, with the common formula Na(Hg), is an alloy of mercury and sodium. The term amalgam is used for alloys, intermetallic compounds, and solutions involving mercury as a major component. Sodium amalgams are often used in reactions as strong reducing agents with better handling properties compared to solid sodium. They are less dangerously reactive toward water and in fact are often used as an aqueous suspension.
Tin(II) chloride, also known as stannous chloride, is a white crystalline solid with the formula SnCl2. It forms a stable dihydrate, but aqueous solutions tend to undergo hydrolysis, particularly if hot. SnCl2 is widely used as a reducing agent (in acid solution), and in electrolytic baths for tin-plating. Tin(II) chloride should not be confused with the other chloride of tin; tin(IV) chloride or stannic chloride (SnCl4).
Clemmensen reduction is a chemical reaction described as a reduction of ketones or aldehydes to alkanes using zinc amalgam and concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl). This reaction is named after Erik Christian Clemmensen, a Danish-American chemist.
A zinc–carbon battery (or carbon zinc battery in U.S. English) is a dry cell primary battery that provides direct electric current from the electrochemical reaction between zinc (Zn) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) in the presence of an ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) electrolyte. It produces a voltage of about 1.5 volts between the zinc anode, which is typically constructed as a cylindrical container for the battery cell, and a carbon rod surrounded by a compound with a higher Standard electrode potential (positive polarity), known as the cathode, that collects the current from the manganese dioxide electrode. The name "zinc-carbon" is slightly misleading as it implies that carbon is acting as the oxidizing agent rather than the manganese dioxide.
The McMurry reaction is an organic reaction in which two ketone or aldehyde groups are coupled to form an alkene using a titanium chloride compound such as titanium(III) chloride and a reducing agent. The reaction is named after its co-discoverer, John E. McMurry. The McMurry reaction originally involved the use of a mixture TiCl3 and LiAlH4, which produces the active reagents. Related species have been developed involving the combination of TiCl3 or TiCl4 with various other reducing agents, including potassium, zinc, and magnesium. This reaction is related to the Pinacol coupling reaction which also proceeds by reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds.
The Clark cell, invented by English engineer Josiah Latimer Clark in 1873, is a wet-chemical cell that produces a highly stable voltage. In 1893, the output of the Clark cell at 15 °C was defined by the International Electrical Congress as 1.434 volts, and this definition became law in the United States in 1894. This definition was later supplanted by one based on the Weston cell.
Aluminium amalgam is a solution of aluminium in mercury. In practice the term refers to particles or pieces of aluminium with a surface coating of the amalgam. A gray solid, it is typically used for organic reductions. It is written as Al(Hg) in reactions.
The Castner–Kellner process is a method of electrolysis on an aqueous alkali chloride solution to produce the corresponding alkali hydroxide, invented by American Hamilton Castner and Austrian Carl Kellner in the 1890s. It is a type of chloralkali process, but in this role it is gradually being replaced by membrane electrolysis which has lower energy cost and fewer environmental concerns.
The chromic acid cell is a type of primary cell which uses chromic acid as a depolarizer. The chromic acid is usually made by acidifying a solution of potassium dichromate. The old name for potassium dichromate is potassium bichromate and the cell is often called a bichromate cell. This type of cell is now only of historical interest.
Mercury is a chemical element; it has symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum from the Greek words hydor'water' and argyros'silver', from which its chemical symbol is derived. A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.
An amalgam is an alloy of mercury with another metal. It may be a liquid, a soft paste or a solid, depending upon the proportion of mercury. These alloys are formed through metallic bonding, with the electrostatic attractive force of the conduction electrons working to bind all the positively charged metal ions together into a crystal lattice structure. Almost all metals can form amalgams with mercury, the notable exceptions being iron, platinum, tungsten, and tantalum. Silver-mercury amalgams are important in dentistry, and gold-mercury amalgam is used in the extraction of gold from ore. Dentistry has used alloys of mercury with metals such as silver, copper, indium, tin and zinc.
A Jones reductor is a device used to reduce aqueous solutions of metal ions. The active component is a zinc amalgam. Jones reductors have been used for preparing solutions of titanium(III), vanadium(II), chromium(II), molybdenum(III), niobium(III), europium(II), and uranium(III).
References
- ↑ Ham, Peter (2001). "Zinc Amalgam". Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis. doi:10.1002/047084289X.rz003. ISBN 0-471-93623-5.
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