Simplified Chemistry

An organic compound that contains one or more closed rings of carbon atoms. The term alicyclic specifically excludes carbocyclic com­pounds with an array of n-electrons characteristic of aromatic rings. Compounds with one to five alicyclic rings of great variety and complexity are found in many natural products such as steroids.and terpenes. By far the majority of these have six-membered rings.

One of a class of organic chemical compounds represented by the general formula RCHO. Formaldehyde, the simplest aldehyde, has the formula HCHO, where R is hydrogen. For all other aldehydes, R is a hydrocarbon radical which may be substituted with other groups such as halogen or hydroxyl (see table). Because of their high chemical reactivity, aldehydes are important intermediates for …

A member of a class of organic compounds composed of carbon, hydro­gen, and oxygen. They can be considered as hydroxyl derivatives of hydrocarbons produced by the replacement of one or more hydrogens by one or more hydroxyl (R-OH) groups. Classification. Alcohols may be mono-, di-, tri-, or polyhydric, depending upon the number of hydroxyl groups they possess. They are classified …

A suspension of small particles in a gas. The particles may be solid or liquid or a mixture of both. Aerosols are formed by the conversion of gases to particles, the disintegration of liquids or solids, or the resuspension of powdered material. Aerosol formation from a gas results in much finer particles than disintegration processes ( except when condensation takes …

A material capable of fastening two other materials together by means of surface attachment. The terms glue, mucilage, mastic, and cement are synonymous with adhesive. In a generic sense, the word adhesive implies any material capable of fastening by surface attachment, and thus will include inorganic materials such as portland cement and solders. In a practical sense, however, adhesive implies …

A material capable of fastening two other materials together by means of surface attachment. The terms glue, mucilage, mastic, and cement are synonymous with adhesive. In a generic sense, the word adhesive implies any material capable of fastening by surface attachment, and thus will include inorganic materials such as portland cement and solders. In a practical sense, however, adhesive implies …

A process in which a hydrogen atom in an organic compound is re­placed by an acyl group (R-CO, where R = an organic group). The reaction in­volves substitution by a nucleophile (electron donor) at the electrophilic carbonyl group (C=O) of a carboxylic acid derivative. The substitution usually proceeds by an addition-elimination sequence. Two common reagents, with the general formula RCOX, …

A technique in which a neutron, charged particle, or gamma photon is captured by a stable nuclide to produce a different, radioactive nu­clide which is then measured. The technique is specific, highly sensitive, and applicable to almost every element in the periodic table. In neutron activation analysis (NAA), the most widely used form of activation anal­ysis, the sample to be …

A powdered, granular, or pelleted form of amorphous car­bon characterized by very large surface area per unit volume because of an enormous number of fine pores. Activated carbon is capable of collecting gases, liquids, or dis­solved substances on the surface of its pores. Adsorption on activated carbon is selective, favoring nonpolar over polar substances. Compared with other commercial adsorbents, activated …

A chemical element, Ac, atomic number 89, and atomic weight 227.0. Actinium was discovered by A. Debierne in 1899. Milligram quantities of the element are available by irradiation of radium in a nuclear reactor. Actinium-227 is a beta­emitting element whose half-life is 22 years. Six other radioisotopes with half-lives ranging from 10 days to less than 1 minute have been …