19Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

Alcohol Protonation: Synthesis Intermediate

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_20866" align="alignright" width="440"] Primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols.[/caption] What is alcohol protonation? An alcohol is an organic compound. Some examples are ethanol (ethyl alcohol), isopropyl alcohol, and t-butyl alcohol. They have the generic chemical formula ROH. H is hydrogen, O is oxygen, and R is any aliphatic (carbon chain) group. Alcohols are important organic synthetic reagents. During a reaction process, alcohols may be protonated by mineral acids.¹ Alcohol protonation is the adding of a proton. Ethanol, for instance, protonates accordingly, C₂H₅-OH + H⁺ → C₂H₅-OH₂⁺ Notice from the protonated structure that the final three atoms closely resemble water (H₂O). Water is quite stable. Thus, it is a “good leaving group.” What remains is a carbocation. It should be noted is the charge is now not on the oxygen atom.…
Read More
19Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

DIY Milk Based Casein Glue

Chemistry, Entertainment
[caption id="attachment_5956" align="alignleft" width="380"] Casein Glue[/caption] Survivalists desire the skill of doing things for themselves. While they may know how to provide food for their families, could they make their own glue if the need arose for it? Would you like to know how you can make your own glue—from milk? That’s right—from milk. It's called casein glue. Elementary Adhesives There are a number of simple ways to make glues using various starches, flour, or gelatin. An improvement to these formulations is casein glue. While it requires a little effort to make, it is still not difficult and it is a superior product. In fact, it is related to some of the famous brands available at your store, including construction glue. Milk is a Natural Casein is an important phosphoprotein…
Read More
19Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Drawing Single Bond Organic Hydrocarbons

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_5904" align="alignright" width="440"] Straight Chain Pentane[/caption] Carbon is one of the few elements that readily bonds to itself, thus allowing the formation of macromolecular structures. It is not at all an uncommon thing to see a lengthy carbon-based structure, possessing molecular weight well up into the tens of thousands. Compare this with an “ordinary” molecule such as table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl) with its molecular weight—a mere 58. Drawing Single Bonded Organic Structures Ordinarily, carbon compounds are written by chemists in as simple a form as possible. Thus, drawing single bond organic hydrocarbons such as n-hexane, we write, C₆H₁₄ or, a little more in detail, CH₃(CH₂)₄CH₃ or, perhaps even, CH₃‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₃ [sc name="MidArticleAdsense"] Need Greater Specificity? The problem is, carbon single bonds possess tetrahedral symmetry. This means that single bonds…
Read More
18Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Ammonia Plus Bleach – Why a Bad Choice

Chemistry, Health
[caption id="attachment_5877" align="alignright" width="440"] Monochloramine[/caption] Housewives and others running the home are urged not to mix household ammonia plus bleach together. Why? Because the result is a poisonous gas. What gas? What is the chemical reaction that produces it? Bleach There are two varieties of household bleach. There is oxygen bleach. And there is chlorine bleach. It is the chlorine variety that causes the risk. Chlorine bleach is a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite in water. Its strength runs 3 to 5 percent in water. Ammonia 100% ammonia is not a liquid. It is a gas. Household "ammonia" is about a 5 percent water solution. Ammonia gas has the formula NH₃. The solution is sometimes written NH₄OH. NH₃ + HOH → NH₄OH In reality, most of the ammonia is…
Read More
03Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Propane and Oxygen Combustion Question

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_16612" align="alignright" width="480"] Propane[/caption] Problem: We desire to learn how much oxygen is needed to completely consume a certain quantity of propane gas. Our hydrocarbon and oxygen combustion question follows the basic reaction path, C3H8 + 5 O2 → 4 H2O + 3 CO2 If we have the following conditions: Temperature = 75 Celsius (348 Kelvin) Pressure = 720 / 760 mm = 0.95 atm Moles propane = 40.8 grams / 44.1 grams molecular weight = 0.93 moles How Much Oxygen to Burn the Propane? What volume of oxygen is needed to accomplish the burning of the 0.93 moles of the hydrocarbon? 5 times 0.93 moles of C3H8 burned = 4.65 moles of oxygen The ideal gas law reads: PV = nRT where P= the pressure, V= the volume, and…
Read More
20Jan 2014 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Organic Chemistry: Pushing Electrons

Chemistry
Scientists desire to solve complex problems with exact precision, but sometimes it just is not practical. Simplifying is necessary. For the organic chemist, one form of simplifying is the idea of pushing electrons. To illustrate, high school physics instructors introduce the concept of massless strings and frictionless pulleys. No such things exist. Still, this fiction enables the beginning student to isolate what is important. Spark Notes informs us that college entrance examinations generally employ such contrivances. Constructs, Artifices, Contrivances Physicists are not the only ones to employ constructs and contrivances to simplify problems and arrive at an answer. The organic chemist must understand very complex compounds and the reactions leading to their formation. One of the best known contrivances is that of pushing electrons or pushing arrows. The great thing…
Read More
17Jan 2014 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Examples of Atoms That are Ionized

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_15556" align="alignleft" width="440"] H +1, H atom, H -1. Image by Jkwchui CC-by-SA3.0[/caption] Not all atoms are atoms that are ionized. All atoms have a nucleus containing protons and neutrons. That nucleus is surrounded by one or more orbitals that contain electrons. The total charge of a neutral atom equals zero. The number of protons equals the number of electrons. If the number of electrons increases or decreases, an atom is ionized. It is either a cation (positive ion) or an anion (negative ion). Atoms That Are Ionized The same thing can happen to small collections of bonded atoms. By definition, an atom oxidizes to a cation or reduces to an anion. Positively Charged Atoms (Cations) Atoms that are ionized have lost energy and become more stable in so…
Read More
11Nov 2013 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Acid Base Proton Transfer

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_20220" align="alignright" width="440"] Acetic acid dissociation[/caption] The concepts contained in this article sound complex: acid base proton transfer. But they are a lot simpler than they sound. If a hydrogen atom Hº is ionized by stripping off its one electron, what remains is a proton. This small positive particle, symbol H⁺, is the heart of acid base proton transfer reactions. But That's Too Simple In water, the H⁺ ion does not exist as a naked proton. Rather, it is united with a molecule of water in the form of a stabilized hydronium ion (H₃O⁺). So in aqueous solutions, hydronium ions are the proton donors. Acid Base Proton Transfer Proton transfer acceptors, rather than being proton poor, are electron rich. Still, since acids are proton donors, it logically follows that…
Read More
28Oct 2013 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Silicon Tetrachloride Acts Like a Strongly Electronegative Atom

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_5121" align="alignright" width="440"] Silicon Tetrachloride Molecule[/caption] The empirical formula of the compound silicon tetrachloride is SiCl₄. The molecule possesses tetrahedral symmetry. This means the atom of silicon is located at the center and the four atoms of chlorine are located at the four corners of a tetrahedron. Each chlorine atom is strongly electronegative, so the molecule of SiCl₄ strongly draws electrons. The core, silicon atom is insignificantly electronegative. Elemental Electronegativity Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom or other particle to attract electrons. It is high when an atom is small and outer electrons are least shielded from the positive nucleus. This makes fluorine the most electronegative of elements. Conversely, the alkali metal astatine, is least electronegative. Chlorine, while not so much so as fluorine, is still very electronegative.…
Read More
20Oct 2013 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Chemicals With the Same Empirical Formula

Chemistry
An empirical formula lists the elements of a compound but not the structure. Oxalic acid has the formula C2H2O4. Its structure is HOOC–COOH. Multiple compounds can have the same empirical formula and a different structure. The Same Yet Different Location of a specific kind of bond may make the difference. There are compounds with the same empirical formula in which spatial orientation is the only difference. Sometimes one structure can be changed into another structure of the same formula. Most often compounds having the same formula but different structures are completely unrelated. Simple Bond Shift In some cases, a simple bond shift produces different structures with no formula change. An example is 1-butene and 2-butene. The first has the structure H2C=CH-CH2-CH3. The second has the structure H3C-CH=CH-CH3. Both have the…
Read More