The answer is in thermodynamics and kinetics. These two are arguably the most important concepts to grasp in chemistry.

But sometimes, even after several years of basic chemistry education, it is not easy to form a clear picture on how they govern reactivity!

Tutorial Review: Contents and Introduction

In this tutorial, we will try to introduce and summarize what these two concepts are, and their implications in chemical reactivity. This is obviously an introduction, intended for chemistry students of all levels.

For sure, there are more comprehensive explanations out there, and if you want one, go grab any of the best-known general chemistry books, or a more specific organic chemistry textbook. However, we have found that there are not many short explanations out there available for the general scientific public. This is somehow worrying, since, without a basic understanding of thermodynamics and kinetics, there is no way to understand the basic principles of reactivity. And without understanding reactivity, you are missing out on the most important part of chemistry.

But if you really want to dive on physical chemistry concepts as such, unfortunately you will find that most books can be impenetrable without a basic understanding of maths, physics and chemistry itself.

This is what we want to fix with this short tutorial. To give you a general overview on why chemical compounds react. We want to break the gate-keeping that has always been going on with physical organic chemistry!

As mentioned, this is intended to be brief. We will start off with the basic definitions, and hopefully make you go all the way through to understanding free-energy profiles of catalytic reactions.

Interested yet? Keep reading!

• A quick disclaimer: Since my background is in organic chemistry, I will base the explanations on simple organic chemical reactions, but most of the general principles apply to any kind of chemical reactivity.
• For most energy diagrams, the energy values are orientative, made up in order to explain the concepts.

Thermodynamics: The Energetic Stability of Molecules

Thermodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with heat, work and temperature, and their relation to energy, radiation, and physical properties of matter.

That is the definition of thermodynamics. As you can see, it is an incredibly broad concept. Let’s forget about it for now. How does thermodynamics dictate why do chemicals react?

Well, imagine every different molecule having an associated value for energy.

Some molecules will have larger energies and some others lower energies. Then consider that every chemical system has the tendency to go towards the point of lowest energy possible, in effect, the most stable point. This means that a molecule with high energy (less stable) will have a tendency (or “will want to react”) to transform into another molecule with lower energy (more stable).

Why is that? Because the process of going from a high energy state to a lower energy state releases energy, or heat, in what is called an exothermic process. This is what we call a thermodynamically-favored process, and it is basically what the laws of thermodynamics are telling us.

Thermodynamic Stability in Energy Diagrams

This is easier than it might sound. The image below illustrates what you just read. Molecule A can react in two ways: Absorbing heat it can be transformed into 1. Alternatively, it can evolve into 2 by releasing energy, in a thermodynamically-favorable manner. Of course, if these were the only two possible scenarios, all molecules of A would react to give 2, and stay there forever. But the picture is usually not that simple, and we will come back to this later.

You might be looking at the picture above and still not get what we mean by higher or lower energy. Let me redraw it in a way you will probably have seen elsewhere, or been taught in school/college:

The scheme above resembles what you are always taught in introductory organic chemistry courses: more substituted isomers of alkenes are more stable (A and 2 vs. 1) and trans isomers are more stable than cis isomers (2 vs A).

What does this means? It means that, given the appropriate circumstances or conditions, both 1 and A would like to react to give 2. But we now that less stable alkenes such as 1 are perfectly inert, and can be handled and stored without worries. So, what is the deal here?

The answer is kinetics and activation barriers.

Kinetics: The Barriers of Chemical Reactivity

Before diving into kinetics, let me present another quick example of a thermodynamically-favorable process. An energy diagram of an Sn2 substitution reaction in this case.

As you can see, if we set the zero in energy for a hydroxyde anion plus a chloromethane molecule (in energy diagrams you always set an energy for the whole system, not individual molecules), the total energy of the products of the corresponding Sn2 reaction (tert-butyl alcohol and a chloride anion) will be lower (about 20 kcal/mol lower!).

What does this mean? That the reaction is thermodynamically favorable, and in principle it will not take place the other way around.

But does this mean that, mixing hydroxide with chloromethane at any temperature will lead to the immediate formation of tert-butyl alcohol and chloride? Of course not! The rate at which the reaction proceeds will depend directly on the temperature, and if the temperature is low enough, the reaction will not take place at all, even though the process is thermodynamically favorable.

Why is that? Kinetics is the answer.

What Are Chemical Reaction Kinetics?

Chemical or reaction kinetics is the branch of physical chemistry that studies the rates (or speeds) of chemical reactions.

In summary, thermodynamics determines in what direction a chemical reaction proceeds, and kinetics determines the speed or rate at which that process occurs.

Of course, in the last scheme of the previous section, there was something missing. In a chemical reaction, reactant A does not simply transform into product B. Reactions take place through what we call transition states.

Transition states are intermediate structures between reactants and products of a chemical reaction step. They are usually higher in energy (less stable) than both the reactants and the products, and the energy difference between the reactants and the transition states, also known as activation energy, is the barrier necessary to overcome for a thermodynamically-favorable reaction to take place.

Why Do Chemicals React? Thermodynamics and Kinetics Combined

See below a now complete version of the free-energy diagram of the Sn2 substitution reaction. As you can see, the process is thermodynamically favorable, but a barrier or activation energy of 23.0 kcal/mol has to be overcome in order to reach the products.

The larger the activation energy, the lower the speed or rate of a reaction at any given temperature. Usually, we set a limit of barriers of around 25 kcal/mol for reactions to proceed at a significant rate (this is, in several hours or days) at 25 ºC. Easy enough to remember.

Stability vs Inertness

No matter how thermodynamically favorable a process is, if the barriers to reach the corresponding transition are too high (say, higher than 30-40 kcal/mol), that chemical reaction is not going to take place under regular conditions.

This allows us to make a clarification between stability and inertness as properties of chemicals.

Stability is a thermodynamic concept, while inertness is a kinetic concept.

• A compound is stable, if it is relatively low in energy (compared to the molecules to which it may interconvert into). The opposite would be unstable, high in energy.

• On the other hand, we say that a compound is kinetically inert if in order to react it has to overcome large activation barriers.

A compound can be both unstable and inert. That is why we can handle and store thermodynamically unstable primary alkenes such as 1-propene without them isomerizing to more-stable secondary alkenes such as cis- or trans-2-propene (see the first two schemes).

But we can trick kinetics! Catalysts can be used to lower the activation energy of chemical transformations, allowing them to proceed more rapidly, or simply to proceed at all!

• Note: Theoretically, no matter how high the activation energy of a process might be, we say that it is always taking place at a certain rate. However, if the energy barriers are higher than, say, 50 kcal/mol, the rate or speed of the reaction would be so low that it would take many many years before we can detect a significant conversion.

Catalysis: Lowering the Barrier!

Now that we know why chemicals react, let me explain how we chemists try to override the system and make activation barriers lower.

A catalyst is a chemical entity (a molecule, a salt, a coordination complex…) which speeds up a chemical reaction. It also can unlock new reactivity pathways and make reactions work that would not be possible otherwise.

Let’s take a specific classical example. The electrophilic aromatic substitution of benzene with molecular bromine (Br–Br). This reaction is traditionally carried out using a Lewis acid as catalyst, such as iron tribromide.

But let us imagine first a catalyst-free version of the process, which I am certain can occur if you mix together benzene and bromine, and heat it up enough.

How Thermal, Catalyst-Free Reactions Occur

The first step of this reaction is the formation of the well-known Wheland intermediate. An intermediate (not to be confused with a transition state, which rather connects intermediates together) is a reactive chemical species which is formed in one of the steps in the middle of a chemical reaction of A leading to B, as intermediate point. For benzene to be transformed into bromobenzene, it has to pass through this intermediate species. Intermediates can rarely be isolated, since they usually are both thermodynamically unstable and kinetically reactive.

In any case, the reactants have to overcome a high activation barrier of 30 kcal/mol. Once the temperature is enough for this to take place, the rest of the process has lower activation barriers, and takes place downhill to give reaction products in an overall thermodynamically favorable process (exothermic by -11 kcal/mol).

But we can speed things up with a catalyst!

Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Electrophilic Aromatic Substitutions

By adding a catalyst to the mixture, we can access new transitions states, which are more stable, and hence lower in energy. And what happens when the transition state of the rate-limiting step of a reaction is lower in energy? That the activation barrier of the whole process is much lower!

This is basically the role of FeBr₃ (the catalyst) of this reaction: stabilizes transition states and intermediates. Now the activation barrier to reach the first transition state is much lower (20 vs 30 kcal/mol), allowing the reaction to take place under mild conditions.

Also, note that FeBr₃ is recovered unreacted with the products. This is another feature of catalysts: they can be recovered and re-enter another reaction cycle. This is why they are often employed in sub-stoichiometric amounts (this is, less than one mole of catalyst is enough to drive full conversion of one mole of starting material).

But as we have already mentioned, thanks to catalysis we not only can lower activation barriers that would need totally unpractical temperatures. We can also unlock reactions that would take hundreds of years to complete by themselves. We can also achieve completely new selectivities, and develop new chemical processes.

I work in catalysis myself, and I can tell you this is one of the most important, exciting and active fields of chemistry.

This is the end of this tutorial review, and I hope it has helped you to get a clearer picture of why chemical reactions take place and what leads chemicals to react. We certainly covered concepts you have to master if you are learning chemistry at any level!

The post Why Do Chemicals React? Kinetics and Thermodynamics appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

What Is the Swern Oxidation?

The Swern oxidation is the oxidation of a primary or secondary alcohol to an aldehyde or a ketone, respectively, by the combination of oxalyl chloride and dimethylsulfoxide followed by triethylamine.

Discovery and Applications

The Swern oxidation was first discovered by Daniel Swern and Kanji Omura in 1978. From this point, this methodology evolved into one of the most used strategies to oxidize both secondary and primary alcohols to ketones or aldehydes, respectively.

In this reaction, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) acts as the effective oxidizing agent, getting reduced to dimethylsulfide (DMS) as a consequence. However, DMSO by itself is not reactive enough to take part in this redox process, it needs to be activated by oxalyl chloride, (CO)₂Cl₂. This results in the formation of an adduct that can evolve into the corresponding ketone or aldehyde by action of a base (generally triethylamine), upon release of CO, CO₂, and dimethylsulfide (SMe₂), through a beautiful mechanism that is a must know for any student of organic chemistry.

This reaction has distinctive features that make it extremely popular among synthetic chemists.

Advantages and Drawbacks

One of the best features of this oxidation method is that it does not further oxidizes aldehydes to carboxylic acids, so a single 2-electron oxidation of primary alcohols can be achieved. This is often not the case with, for instance, metal-based oxidations, such as the use of potassium permanganate. Other alternatives that stop at the aldehydes, such as DMP, are usually much more expensive than the simple reagents required for the Swern.

This reaction often proceeds smoothly at very low temperatures. The usual procedure is run at -78 ºC, which means that the reaction conditions are extremely mild, this usually leads to very selective procedures that usually don’t harm other functional groups of complex molecules. On the other hand, this can also be considered a small inconvenience, since it requires setting up an acetone-dry ice bath (-78 ºC) or the use of a cryocooler instrument.

There are not many disadvantages for this reaction, as evidenced by how it has withstood the test of time, but the more characteristic one is on of the side products: dimethylsulfide is a nasty smelly gas! Make sure to run the reaction in a well-ventilated fumehood.

The Mechanism of the Swern Oxidation

The mechanism of this oxidation starts by the activation of the oxidant (DMSO) by oxalyl chloride. This generates an adduct upon release of a chloride anion. This chloride anion acts then as nucleophile towards the electrophilic sulfur atom, which makes the intermediate collapse. This results in the release of a molecule of CO₂ and a molecule of CO. This results in the formation of Me₂Cl₂S, and highly activated oxidizing agent.

This Me₂Cl₂S intermediate can react with primary and secondary alcohols to give the adduct shown below. Then, this adduct can be deprotonated by an organic base (triethylamine) to give a sulfur ylide, upon release of triethylammonium chloride.

Finally, this ylide intermediate evolves through a 5-membered cyclic transition state to release dimethylsulfide (DMS) and the resulting oxidized product (an aldehyde or ketone).

How Do You Run a Swern Oxidation in the Lab?

As someone who has run this oxidation at work many times myself, here is a general illustration of the practical procedure for this reaction.

Finally you can further purify the product if it is required by flash column chromatography, and you are all done1

The post The Swern Oxidation: Mechanism and Features appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

For many students, video content is a useful tool to supplement classroom learning and review concepts. At Crash Course, we create free online video courses on Youtube focused on a wide variety of subjects, from literature to chemistry. Over the past few months we have been making a new series of videos that are being uploaded weekly. Here you can find the presentation video and the YouTube channel:

The first part of the series is focused on the tools that help us understand organic chemistry, things like bonding, structure, and naming molecules. Once we have a basic toolbox, we start building molecules: from small molecules like ethanol to giant macromolecules like high-density polyethylene. In the second half of the course, we will get into multi-step synthesis of larger molecules. We’ll also look at important developments in the pharmaceutical industry because understanding organic chemistry is important in understanding health, medicine, and how the biochemistry of the body works. 

If this course sounds like a useful tool for your classroom or learning, you may also want to check out the Crash Course App (Google Play link here)! The app offers flashcards with review questions for each video in the organic chemistry series. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how a course like this is built and written, below is a message from the Content Manager of Crash Course, Ceri Riley, as well as a script excerpt.

A Presentation by the Content Manager of Crash Course

When I took Organic Chemistry in college, it was incredibly tricky to wrap my brain around substitution reactions. I relied heavily on memorization, and even then, when it came time to solve problems, I felt like I was guessing when it came to SN1 and SN2 mechanisms. I’m really glad our expert consultant, Dr. Kristen Procko, decided to break substitution reactions into two episodes. And in this introductory episode, there are a few helpful logical breakdowns of the differences between SN1 and SN2, from using general models, to playground metaphors, and specific examples. 

Sharing CC Organic Chemistry scripts feels definitely like sharing a rough draft, because Deboki Chakravarti’s performance as host and Thought Cafe’s animations add SO MUCH to this series. It’s one thing to see a reaction mechanism in a textbook or in a script, and it’s another to see it fully animated. That being said, it takes a team of experts to get all these small details right: we have a consultant, writer, and fact checker. This is one of the biggest content teams we’ve ever had, and it’s partially because there are so many tiny things to get right, from subscripts to spelling to making sure our logic is clear and we’re giving as many tips as possible to help students with this difficult material. 

Hopefully this excerpt sheds some light into our scripting process and gives a sneak peak at some reactions we’re going to learn in a few months on the channel. I’m really proud of how much we packed into this episode (and honestly, all of these episodes) and hope they help many people in the upcoming months and years! 

– Ceri Riley, script editor of CC Orgo and content manager of Crash Course

Script Excerpt of CCORG20: Intro to Substitution Reactions

In general chemistry, you might’ve heard substitution reactions called displacement reactions. Like two pairs of dance partners, two ionic compounds in water could swap ions when mixed, so the positive part of one compound ended up with the negative of the other. 

In organic chemistry, substitution reactions also involve switching partners, but they’re a little more complicated. We usually deal with single displacement reactions, where one group finds a new partner and the other has to… just… leave. And organic molecules are a bit more complicated than inorganic ions, so we’ll have to think carefully about stereochemistry. 

Don’t worry though. We got this. To help us figure out organic substitution reactions, we need three things:

Number 1:  A molecule containing an sp³-hybridized carbon, which we’re going to call the substrate. This sp³-hybridized carbon will have a leaving group attached to it.

Number 2:  That leaving group, which is an atom or group that can accept electron density, and stabilize the negative charge that will hold after “leaving” the substrate.

And Number 3:  A nucleophile, which is an atom or functional group that contains a lone pair or a pi bond, and is electron-rich by nature.

This is the general model of a substitution reaction, with placeholders. 

We can add in some real atoms and molecules here: the substrate is 1-bromobutane, which switches its bromide dance partner for hydroxide. In this reaction, the leaving group is a bromide ion, and the nucleophile is a hydroxide ion.

The Mechanisms of Substitution Reactions

As we’ve been discovering, organic chemistry is full of puzzles, so substitution reaction mechanisms can get a little tricky. Specifically, they can take two paths called S_N1 and S_N2. Depending on the path, we’ll see differences in stereochemistry and mechanism. 

Let’s adventure along one pathway, or one mechanism, at a time. And we’ll start with S_N1. The S is for substitution, the N is for nucleophilic, and the 1 is for unimolecular, which tells us about the reaction rate. 

There are two steps to an S_N1 reaction: formation of a carbocation and nucleophilic attack. To see what this looks like in a reaction mechanism, let’s use a general model again.

First, formation of the carbocation is the rate-determining step. We’ve got to wait for that  leaving group to pop off of the molecule with its electrons and give the carbon a positive charge. 

Since this could take awhile, we say this first process is the rate-determining step, or the slow step of the entire reaction. And the reason we call S_N1 reactions unimolecular is because the overall rate of this reaction depends on that one molecule, the substrate, losing its leaving group.

Okay, I know we can broadly visualize substitutions as dancing, but I like to picture the details with a playground. Specifically, a merry-go-round — you know, those spinny platforms where you sit and someone else pushes it in circles until you’re super dizzy? Suppose there was a merry-go-round that could only hold three kids. You’re the fourth, so you get stuck spinning your friends, waiting for one to get off so you can hop on. It always feels like forever before you get a turn. But that’s basically the first step of an S_N1 reaction.

Now, a carbocation is pretty irresistible to nucleophiles, so next the nucleophile attacks this intermediate and a bond is formed. Sort of like how you’d quickly jump onto a merry-go-round to take a turn when your friend finally hops off. Because it happens so quickly, this step does not determine the overall rate.

Moving on to S_N2 Reactions

Those were the basic steps along the S_N1 pathway… But in an S_N2 mechanism, the S is for substitution, the N is for nucleophilic, and the 2 is for bimolecular – because the reaction rate will depend on two molecules coming together, instead of one just falling apart. Our two molecules are the substrate and the nucleophile. 

In an S_N2 mechanism, there is no carbocation intermediate and the nucleophile plays a much more active role. It all happens in one big, dramatic swoop: the nucleophile does a backside attack, pushes out the leaving group, and the stereochemistry gets inverted….kind of like an umbrella that gets turned inside-out in a heavy wind storm.  

Specifically, it’s another one of those funky concerted reactions where bonds break and form at the same time. S_N2 mechanisms go through a stage that looks like a carbon with five bonds. But it’s not, because both the nucleophile and leaving group are attached with partial bonds. 

A partial bond means as one bond is forming, the other is breaking. Basically, the nucleophile starts to share its electrons but doesn’t want to fully commit until the leaving group leaves. And the substrate doesn’t want to fully let go of the leaving group until the nucleophile commits. Kind of like a passionate ballet with dancers joining hands or letting go. 

Or, going back to our merry-go-round metaphor, it’s like you’re spinning three friends again. But instead of waiting patiently for one of them to hop off, you push one friend away and sit down across from where they were. Then your other friends, to balance it out (or just to get away from you) shift over. S_N2 is a much rowdier playground than S_N1!

The post A Journey into Substitution Reactions by Crash Course appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

However, there are instances when they can cause nuisances in the household, interfering with our daily activities. They might start to cause stress and pain. 

The only time that spiders show their aggressive nature is when they are provoked or agitated.  This usually happens when we attempt to get rid of them. They retaliate in return. When they do this, they resort to biting and secrete spider venom into the skin. 

If you enjoyed our last journey covering the differences between bee and wasp venom, join us for a new venomous journey, and the biochemistry behind it!

Are Spider Venoms Usually Very Dangerous?

The spider venom is a mix of a lot of chemicals. Usually, spider bites are not as deadly as people think.  The composition of their venom is often only enough to paralyze small animals.

So the short answer is no, besides some species that can be very dangerous or even deadly, in most cases, there is no reason to panic if bitten by a spider.

However, there are spider species like the black widow spider (Latrodectus) and the brown recluse spider (or brown fiddler) that causes more than just skin allergies. Their venom is composed of more fatal components. Those can lead to necrosis, severe skin infections, or worse. So let’s discuss what it comprises so we know how to deal with it. 

What Are the Components of a Spider Venom?

The venom is released through the spider’s fangs called “Chelicerae” as they bite. These are usually composed of the following substances. 

• Venomous Peptides: A variety of peptides (small-chain proteins) are the major components of the spider venom, some of these are venomous and in a dose high enough to harm humans, in some cases.  These peptidic toxins can serve many purposes. Among these, paralyzing small animals, or help the spider in the digestion process.
• Enzymatic and Non-Enzymatic Proteins: These, on the other hand, have a high molecular weight that usually act as agents to help spread the venom throughout the body of the bitten creature.
• Small Molecules: Different mixtures and concentrations of active small molecules can bee found in venom. The most notable ones act as neurotoxins or necrotic agents. Other active compounds like serotonin can also be found in spider venom. 
• Other Components: Spider venom has other more common substances like salts, biogenic amines, and carbohydrates.  All of these contribute to might contribute to producing pain, or have other functions.

Most people develop an allergic reaction to many of these chemicals because they are foreign agents. Plus, these can dissolve tissues and cause pain.  Depending on the components of the venom, it can either be categorized as a cytotoxin- or neurotoxin-based venom.  So what is the difference? 

Spider Venom: Is it Cytotoxins or Neurotoxins?

Two types of spider venom are found as harmful and dangerous to people. This includes venom composed mainly of cytotoxins and venom that consists of neurotoxins. The difference between these two types is obviously the nature of the main chemical components found within them and the physical damage that they cause to humans.

Cytotoxins

Cytotoxins are substances that have a toxic effect on cells.

Cytotoxins have enzymes and linear peptides that damage the cells and tissues of the prey. Insects that are charged with this venom are liquefied for the easy ingestion of the spider. In the case of humans, cytotoxins create blisters, inflammation, or lesions on the skin surrounding the bite (necrotic bite). Loxoscelism is the condition where necrosis of the skin and the spread of red blood cells occur. Other symptoms of this condition include fever, headache, and vomiting. Some of the spiders that secrete cytotoxins dangerous to humans include the recluse spider and the South African sand spider.

Neurotoxins

Neurotoxins have a toxic effect on cells, but only a specific type of cells: neurons. They are destructive to nerve tissue.

Neurotoxins present in spider venom usually are proteins, disulfide-containing peptides, or polyamines. These chemicals paralyze and then kill the prey. They attack and immobilize the nervous system. Animals can die because of neurotoxins but rarely does it happen to humans. Only in extreme situations neurotoxins from spider venom kill people. 

The condition known as Latrodectism is caused by neurotoxic venom that can cause muscle cramps, pain in the abdomen or chest, vomiting, and sweating. Out of the two kinds of venom, this is the most dangerous of all. The black widow spider or red back spider, the Brazilian wandering spider, and the Australian funnel web spider all have neurotoxins that can potentially harm humans. 

What to Do When Bitten by a Spider

Generally, spiders are harmless, but being bitten by a spider is a whole different story. The type of spider should be considered when treating a spider bite. And in extreme cases, the spider should be captured to identify the venom for the proper medical attention. This is many times not possible, so it always helps to have in mind the clearest description possible of how the spider looks like. As we said, almost always, spiders will only attack and bite when disturbed, so there should be not such thing as getting bitten while sleep without realizing.

The first aid treatment to a spider bite is to wash the affected area with soap and water. When the bite is painful and inflamed, a cold compress on the wound can be helpful. Antihistamines and analgesics can be used to reduce pain and swelling. 

Immediate medical attention is needed as soon as symptoms are detected, especially if the bite of the spider has neurotoxins or necrotic substances. The bite of the Australian funnel web, the red back spider, and the Brazilian wandering spider can be fatal to humans.

In any case, what you should not do is panicking. In most cases you are going to be perfectly fine even without serious treatment. But better be safe than sorry and if you spot any serious symptom, go get it checked out.

About the author

Jenelly Laroco is a writer for Go-Forth Pest Control. She writes about pests and how to get rid of them safely but effectively using environmentaly-friendly methods. 

The post Neurotoxin vs. Cytotoxin: The Difference between Spider Venoms appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Indeed, oxygen is one of the most abundant chemical elements on the planet, and it has been baffling scientists since its official discovery in 1773 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestley, independently. You will know why I said official when we get to the some facts about oxygen later.

Associated with the chalcogen group, molecular oxygen, dioxygen, or O2, is an extremely volatile covalent compound.

As obvious as it may seem, the discovery of oxygen was key for the development of chemical science: In fact, the process of abstracting electrons from a molecule, known as the chemical process of oxidation, takes its name from this element. This is due to the fact that elemental oxygen has the capacity of forming “oxides” with most chemical elements.

Technically, it is also the third most abundant element in the universe, trailing behind hydrogen and helium, respectively. 

Hence, in this article, you will learn several facts about this fascinating chemical element. We want to get into its photochemical properties (i.e. its color). But also, you will hopefully discover new things to add up to your knowledge. Let’s get started. 

General Properties of Oxygen

First off, we will take a look into molecular oxygen’s physical and chemical properties.

Oxygen is a colorless and tasteless gas at normal circumstances. This chemical compound is virtually odorless. People have stated, however, that it is actually possible to distinguish between air or pure oxygen. If the odor of oxygen does exist, we may not smell it because of olfactory fatigue.

Os we already mentioned, the most common form of that the element oxygen takes is that of molecular oxygen, dioxygen, or simply O2.

Dioxygen molecules, which are found in gas form under standard conditions, are composed by two atoms of oxygen which are bound through a covalent bond to one another.

However, oxygen is not always in a gas form.

Like most chemical compounds, under certain conditions, which we are about to discuss, it can also transition to different states of matter.

Liquid Oxygen

Liquid oxygen is the condensed form of dioxygen. Nowadays, liquid oxygen is used in many industries such as submarine, and aerospace, or in medicine.

In 1877, liquid oxygen was first discovered by Louis Paul Cailletet (France) and Raoul Pictet (Switzerland). This was after Michael Faraday had liquefied most gases known by 1845, but failed to do so with 6 of them which were known as “permanent gases” at the time. Oxygen was one of those gases.

Slightly denser than water in a liquid state, liquid O2 has a density of precisely 1.141 g/cm3. At its freezing point of 54.36 K (−361.82 °F or −218.79 °C), it becomes a solid.

Furthermore, liquefied oxygen is paramagnetic, a special type of magnetism. Paramagnetic materials (such as liquid oxygen) become weakly attracted to an external magnetic field. Check out the experiment on this video:

Oxygen is also an oxidizing agent as it can readily oxidize organic or inorganic (such as metals) materials. It is in fact used as oxidizing agent in liquid-fueled rockets, since its invention in 1926 by Robert Goddard.

Solid Oxygen

Under standard atmospheric pressure, and at temperatures below 54.36 K (−361.82 °F, −218.79 °C), dioxygen transitions from gas to solid, forming a spin-lattice crystal. Also in this state, diatomic oxygen is one of the few small molecules that carry a magnetic dipole moment.

Color and Properties of Oxygen in Different States

Now the question is:

What is the color of oxygen? Well, gaseous oxygen is colorless. However, when in liquid form, it comes in a shade of pale sky-blue.

The color of solid oxygen, on the other hand, ranges from light blue, pink-to-faint blue, faint-blue, orange, dark-red-to-black, and metallic in six of its different possible phases.

You basically can have solid dioxygen in 6 different phases. And each of them display a particular color.

Why Is Liquid Oxygen Blue?

Similarly to what happens to water (which is also blue, by the way!), the energetic transitions of the electrons in oxygen (which are also the cause of its para magnetism) absorb light on the red spectrum. So red light is absorbed to some extent, giving the substance its complementary color: blue.

If you want more info, this paper in the Journal of Chemical Education gets you covered.

Other Facts About Oxygen

Oxygen is a fascinating chemical element. Apart from its physical and chemical properties, it also has a fascinating history. Add more to your new knowledge and digest some of the following facts below.

If you are hungry for even more, make sure to check our explanations to 100 chemistry facts!

Who Discovered Oxygen?

The question of “who” only brings confusion as sources may vary.

The earliest mention of oxygen is in Michael Sendivogius’s 1604 study. A Polish philosopher, physician, and alchemist, he motioned that air contains a substance called ‘cibus vitae,’ which translates as the food of life.

However, most scholars say that the real discoverer of oxygen is Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a Swedish pharmacist. Between the years 1771 and 72, Scheele experimented with various metal salts, including several nitrates. Scheele discovered the release of a then-unknown combustible agent.

Scheele wrote in his manuscript, Treatise on Air and Fire, his observations about a so-called ‘fire gas’ that is released from heating nitrates. He submitted his findings in 1775 and had them published two years later.

During that same time, though, Joseph Priestley, an aptly named British clergyman, observed that mercuric oxide in a glass tube released a gas he called ‘dephlogisticated air’ after sunlight exposure. He further noted that candles burned brighter in ‘dephlogisticated air’ and that a mouse lived longer even after being exposed to it. He also tried breathing it in and noted that it was like breathing regular air. Priestley published these findings in his 1775 paper called An Account of Further Discoveries in Air.

On a different note, Antoine Lavoisier, also made claims that he independently discovered this substance. Both Lavoisier and Priestley exchanged correspondence and shared ideas. However, the former denied having received any letter from Carl Wilhelm Scheele.

Where Did Oxygen Originate on Earth?

Oxygen comes in third as the most abundant element across the whole universe. However this only accounts for about 1% of oxygen, since the two main constituents, hydrogen and helium, account for 75% and 23% of the entire universe, respectively.

But it was relatively scarce during the formation of Earth.

Accordingly to theories, early forms of cyanobacteria have produced oxygen and added it into the atmosphere of our then-prehistoric planet. Like plants of today, these organisms used photosynthesis as a form of sustenance. For millions of years, they took in carbon dioxide and released oxygen — a grand event dubbed as the Great Oxidation Event.  

What Is the Effect of O2 in the Blood?

Oxygen is crucial to our bodily functions. Without it, we would not last long. Oxygen is not only the basic source of energy that fuels the activity of all cells in our body, but also has several other secondary functions such as serving as a buffering agent – keeping our pH levels in check.

The average blood O2 level is around 75-100 mm Hg or millimeters of mercury. When it drops below normal, we may experience shortness of breath. Likewise, our blood will become acidic because of an increase in blood carbon dioxide or CO2.

Now, what if blood O2 increases? We will experience hyperoxia, which, when aggravated, may lead to oxygen toxicity. This condition may also cause severe damage to your body.

Why Do We Turn Blue When Blood O2 Decreases?

Bright red is the color of oxygenated blood because of the protein, hemoglobin. However, when a person experiences hypoxia, hemoglobin will not bind with the red blood cells, resulting in a darker hue, making us appear as bluish.

Basically, oxygen forms a coordination complex with the ‘heme’ group on hemoglobin. This complex is red-colored, whereas free hemoglobin is actually blue.

Why Are Oxygen Atoms Usually Depicted in Red Color?

If you are familiar with molecular models (and you should!), for sure you know that oxygen atoms are usually red-colored.

Considering that these colors (CPK coloring system) are usually inspired by the color of the elements themselves (hydrogen is white since its always colorless, carbon is black because of charcoal, sulfur powder is yellow…) his seems counter-intuitive after everything we have just explained.

The inspiration for traditionally coloring oxygen atoms in red is not that clear. It probably has to do with oxygen being required for combustion (and fire is red), or due to the previous fact that we covered: oxygen makes hemoglobin look bright red!

To Sum Up

And that concludes our discussion on this element.

So what is the color of oxygen, you say? Well, the answer is: it depends on its physical and chemical state. It is colorless when in gas form; pale or sky blue when in liquid, and shades of blue, red, and black-metallic when in solid state.

The post What Is the Color of Oxygen: Properties and Exciting Facts appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

But the thing is, scientists like you and me are just like anybody else. We still use google and social media, except the information we want is lacking or just not as readily available. And that’s simply because scientists are just not as good at marketing themselves.

In this post, I’m going to discuss some ideas so that you can start networking as a scientist, share your existing scientific knowledge and even build yourself an invaluable reputation outside of your day-to-day colleagues. And this is true not only for chemistry, but for all science in general.

Science Communication Using Social Media

Let’s start with an easy one.

The likelihood is that you are already active on the major social media platforms; but just how much do you use it for your profession?

Once you know where to look, finding subjects and topics that other scientists have in common is fairly simple. All you need to do is get asking and answering questions or getting involved with the online discussion.

Twitter has a great search engine that lets you look for keywords or hashtags.

Knowing that #scicomm (short for ‘science communication’) is a relevant hashtag to start investigating, using a simple tool called hashtagify.me, I can look for similar keywords to get involved with, this gave me the following:

You can even find other scientists or other accounts that tweet solely on similar subjects, something that is more relevant to your field or interest.

Linkedin is a more ‘professional’ social media account to use. But apart from making connections with people you already know or wish to reach out to, there are endless groups that discuss topics of choice.

Reddit may not be the first social media channel that comes to mind, but there are massive communities there ready to get involved with the discussion.

r/chemistry has almost 1 million followers, r/physics has 1.1 million followers and r/biology has a massive 1.7 million followers.

That’s not even scratching the surface of the niche science subreddits; go over and find a conversation to get involved with!

Get Involved With The Public

With the ongoing interest in STEM subjects – especially amongst girls – getting involved with public engagement opportunities is easier than you might realise.

The concept is simple – you take cool and exciting scientific principles and share them in a fun and interactive way. Usually your target audience is young children, but you can engage with anybody that is willing to take part!

Finding opportunities is relatively easy; University and employers often run schemes or opportunities to get involved. But if not, a Google search will show other opportunities in your area.

Speaking Amongst Your Peers

Speaking publicly induces fear into many of us, but demonstrating your ability to others in your field can be highly rewarding, both personally and professionally.

Start small; take an opportunity to speak amongst your work or university colleagues. You don’t need to make a big event about it, but take opportunities to openly discuss successes and failures you’ve worked on, or any relevant scientific news or research you have recently discovered.

Speaking in front of people is definitely a skill; once you’re comfortable with small audiences and people you know, you can work your way to bigger and more experienced audiences.

Write For Relevant Websites

If you’re not much of a public speaker, writing may be more your thing – saying that, your potential audience has just got magnitudes bigger.

There are plenty of websites and blogs out there that will allow scientists like you to write about their knowledge and expertise.

All you have to do is a google search to find relevant topics. Try searching for the below phrases or tweak them yourself to find a blog suitable for you:

‘Science + guest post’

‘Science blog write for us’

‘Guest science writers’

Find a relevant website and get in touch with them. Introduce yourself – your scientific credentials and areas of knowledge – and ask for the chance to write a post.

You will usually get these posted with your own name as authorship and give you the chance to share your articles with your new social media audience, as per my previous tip!

Start Your Own Blog

If you want to go all out to promote yourself as a scientist as well as build the reputation of your community, why don’t you write a science blog?

Starting your own blog is a sure-fire way to get noticed in your industry, and is likely to build up an enviable reputation.

But you don’t have to keep it to yourself. Create a page to allow guest bloggers – as mentioned above – and further grow your network and allow your blog to become bigger and better.

Although all the points I have mentioned in this post so far will build up your science network, nothing will sound as impressive as running your own website.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, being a better science communicator is all about getting involved.

There are plenty of people in the world that don’t have the same professional or personal experiences you do, so you always can always find opportunities to ask for help or even give out your own advice.

Ultimately, good science comes from the power of discussion. You do not always need to agree with somebody else’s opinion or theory, but finding opportunities to get involved is always beneficial.

For many, imposter syndrome prevents people taking the first step to building their network. If this is you, start with some of the tips I’ve mentioned above that sound the easiest, and work your way. Remember the 1% rule; improving by 1% every day will make you 37 times better in just a year.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave a comment below or get in touch with me directly via the details in my author bio.

So, what are you waiting for?

About the Author:

Patrick Wareing, Masters Degree in Chemistry, has 5 years experience working in the lab as an analytical and formulation scientist for RB and Unilever. Now working in digital marketing, Patrick writes about digital marketing and science – often together – on his personal website – patrickwareing.com.

The post 5 Ways To Get Better At Science Communication In The 2020s appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

We have previously covered in another post how we think AI and machine learning are changing research in chemistry. It is even helping us in the way that we do scientific communication.

But what is digitalization, specifically, and what does it mean for enhancing the way the chemical industry works?

Let’s take a look.

What is Digitalization?

Digitalization is almost synonymous with computerised automation – in fact, “automation” was probably your first thought when you started reading this article. But it’s more than that. Digitalization is also about collecting and processing large amounts of data, and then the outcomes or actions of what that data tells us.

An action can be automated as instructed by specific algorithms and executed by machines, like adjusting pressure or heat, for example. It could also be a strategic policy created by human decision-makers, like a plant manager who decides to request parts for replacement if data shows extreme wear and tear on their equipment.

It’s true that in most cases, digitalization involves data that triggers an automated response. This can be:

• Sensors and devices – the input interface components that measure, scan, or receive information directly from the source. For example, an electronic pressure gauge or a radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner that identifies objects, employee IDs, and equipment
• Edge computing – data processing on the “edge,” which involves speed or safety. The computing happens in the device itself or across various devices. A distributed system controls safety components like a compressor anti-surge loop or a safety integrity loop
• Connectivity – how devices, edge computing, and the Cloud are tied together into a homogenous system despite different specifications and standards. This is about compatibility and communication
• Analytics – the various applications that provide an analytical approach for understanding the results of diagnostics, logistics, inventory, and general trends
• The Cloud – a secure database where data can be stored, accessed, and used by either operators or programs

What Is the Status of Digitalization in the Chemical Industry?

Not all companies have full digitalization infrastructure in place – that’s typically because it’s such a huge investment of time, money, and resources. According to one study, just 4 out of 10 chemical companies expect that their business is more digital than their competitors.

Of all the companies in this survey that are digitalized:

• 40% are using digitalization to become more efficient
• 32% say they are applying digital technology to drive growth
• 11% are using digitalization to meet strategic goals

What Types of Challenges Does the Future Hold?

Despite the drive to modernise, the chemical industry is facing various challenges beyond competition. There are external challenges with complex implications such as those posed by the economy and new regulations.

1. Economic Challenges

There are interwoven and sometimes subtle factors that drive the chemical industry’s position within the economy. Despite recent infusion of capital investment to boost global capacity, the focus is largely on local markets.

Global growth in demand for chemical supplies has decreased, something that is indirectly connected to countries creating self-sufficient energy. Just two examples of this are the fading advantage of the Middle East in terms of oil production and the increasing self-sufficiency of China exerting significant pressure on the chemical industry.

Some level of uncertainty is also faced from end-users. Declining car production, for example, could result in lower demand for specialised automotive chemicals.

2. Regulatory Challenges

Another serious challenge to the chemical industry is to do with regulations. To illustrate this point, let’s think about the many countries that are (rightly) either banning or reducing the use of plastic bags. The process of manufacturing plastics involves chemicals, so this has a knock-on effect on the chemical industry as the overall demand for chemical products such as catalysts or reagents for polymerisation and polycondensation decrease. We’re not saying we should reintroduce plastic bags, by the way! Merely that it will affect the chemical industry.

How Digitalization Will Address these Challenges

Digitalization can help make significant improvements. Aside from raising the standards of competitiveness among chemical companies, digitalization can address the industry’s largest challenges in several ways:

• Cost-cutting – cut operational costs by automating complex manufacturing processes
• Efficiency – machines and workers will become more productive. We’ll save time, effort, energy, and resources
• Quality control – work processes will be more precise and accurate. Errors are minimised or eliminated while high-quality products are produced
• Safety – accidents and injuries can be prevented through continuous monitoring of the various stages of manufacturing. Parameters such as pressure, temperature, and chemical proportions are maintained at safe levels
• Security – monitor the movement of personnel within the facility. Any unauthorised person can easily be detected
• Research and development – data and analytics helps researchers develop new products
• Waste management – toxic materials or hazardous waste can be more easily handled, stored, and disposed of by digitally assessing the ratio of final product to waste
• Customer and end-user analytics – chemical companies will gain new insights to help them better respond to customer demand

Using digital technology to address the various challenges the chemical industry faces is no longer a nice-to-have. Change is inevitable and companies must, quite simply, learn to adapt – and reap the benefits of doing so.

The post What Is The Future Of Digitalization In The Chemical Industry? appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Well, the chemical difference is not the one you hear on the news which distinguishes “organic” vegetables from “non-organic” ones. Guess what, both are made up of organic and inorganic compounds.

Let’s say that the “agriculture industry” definition is not the same as the chemical definition. In chemistry, there is a major difference, which is well defined.

Telling the difference between organic and inorganic compounds is one of the main things you need to make clear while learning chemistry. If you are interested, learn more about thermodynamics and kinetics, another two of thee most important concepts in chemistry.

In this article we will explain it in detail, so at the end you will be able to differentiate both of types of chemicals without any difficulty. We will try to solve all your doubts about this eternal chemistry question!

In the early days, scientists separated organic and inorganic compounds on the fact that the first group was considered as a result of the activity of living beings, whereas the second group belonged to the processes unrelated to any way of life. Now there are much clearer definitions.

Introduction

About 200 years ago, at the transition between alchemy and chemistry, chemists classified the chemical compounds into two main groups.

1. Organic Compounds

An easy, layman-friendly definition for organic compounds is that those are the ones which are derived from living things such as plants and animals are known as organic compounds like sugars, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, etc.

More strictly speaking, we consider a compound to be organic if it is made of carbon atoms which participate in covalent bonds. Generally (but not always), organic compounds also present covalent C–H bonds.

2. Inorganic Compounds

An easy definition for an outsider, is that those compounds which are obtained from non-living things or mineral sources are known as inorganic compounds like NaCl (table salt) and NaHCO₃, (baking soda), etc.

Defining inorganic compounds is pretty easy after having defined organic compounds. As a rule, every chemical that does not fall into the category of “organic”, is considered an inorganic compound.

The Vital Force Theory and the First Chemical Total Synthesis

Let’s go back in time once again, to the very early days of chemistry. The theory known as the “vital force theory” might ring a bell to you if you are familiar with the history of chemistry.

This theory was proposed by Swedish chemist Berzelius in 1815. This theory states that organic compounds can’t be synthesized in a laboratory. Early chemists believed that organic compounds could only be obtained from living organisms, through “vital forces”. That is why this theory is referred to as “vital force theory”.

In 1828, Friedrich Wohler, a German chemist, synthesized urea in the laboratory. This accounts for the first chemical total synthesis of a natural organic compound ever!

This accomplishment showed that it was possible to synthesize an organic compound (urea), starting from an inorganic compound (ammonium cyanate), in the laboratory: treating silver cyanate with ammonium chloride afforded a crystalline compound that was found to be identical to urea isolated from urine.

This chemical transformation invalidated the vital force theory, and soon after this, chemists began to make organic compounds in the laboratory. Hence the modern definition of organic compounds was introduced in the scientific world. This also marks the very beginning of organic chemistry as a discipline.

The Modern Definitions

Organic Compounds

The compounds which contain carbon atoms as main constituent, which are bonded together through covalent bonds, are called organic compounds. Most organic compounds also contain hydrogen. Other common elements present in organic compounds are oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, halogens, or phosphorous. But those are not the only ones.

In most cases, all atoms of the different elements are held together through covalent bonds. Some exceptions would be, for example, organic carboxylates, or ammonium salts. But you could argue that those are “inorganic salts of organic compounds”.

Some compounds that might sound “non-organic as hell” such as polymers (a fancy name for plastics), are actually long-chained organic compounds. An example is polystyrene. It’s backbone is basically all covalent C–C and C–H bonds.

Bear in mind that “organic compound” does not imply “biochemical compound”. On the other hand, the backbone of biochemistry is mostly organic compounds (although metals are extremely important in biological systems such as iron in hemoglobin).

Inorganic compounds

Take every organic compound out. You are left with inorganic compounds. If it doesn’t fall into the definition of organic, it is inorganic.

In general, the compounds which do not have C–C or C–H covalent bonds are called inorganic compounds.

There are many compounds that only have covalent bonds, they have carbon atoms, but are not organic compounds. Examples of this type of inorganic compounds include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, inorganic carbonates, carbides, etc. Notably, allotropes of carbon such as graphite, graphene or diamond, contain only carbon atoms, but are considered inorganic compounds.

As you can see, sometimes the definition is not so well established. In fact, I couldn’t really find a clear definition for both provided by IUPAC. This illustrates the fact that defining the line between inorganic and organic chemicals.

Some interesting examples of this middle ground are organometallic compounds. These are made up of an organic component, generally bound to an inorganic component through a carbon–metal bond. These are really fun and are one of the most widely explored research topics in modern chemistry!

Major Differences Between Organic and Inorganic Compounds

We will try to sumarize in a quick comparison table the key differences between organic and inorganic compounds.

However, bear in mind that in most cases these are just generalizations and won’t be true for any scenario, and definitely will have exceptions.

And as you can probably guess, the examples for both types of both types can go on forever.

Examples of Organic Compounds

Time to dive into learning organic chemistry! These are just some natural and non-natural examples of organic compounds.

Carbohydrates

These are commonly known as sugars. In terms of functional groups, these are aldehydes or ketones having additional hydroxyl groups. Carbohydrates are a simple way to illustrate organic compounds, since they are just chains of C–C and C–H covalent bonds in the company of some of the most typical organic functional groups (alcohols and carbonyls). Examples of carbohydrates are glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc.

Proteins

Proteins are made up of chains of amino acids joined together to form peptides. Proteins are actually polymers, which can be made up of a single chain of many amino acids, or of several chains that are packed together by non-covalent interactions. Since they are made of amino acids, they contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and also nitrogen atoms, everything held together by covalent bonds, and also non-covalent interactions. A classical example of proteins are enzymes.

Organic Solvents

Organic solvents are organic compounds which are commonly used to dissolve chemicals in the lab, mainly for setting up chemical reactions. “Like dissolves like” they say, so these solvents are a must for carrying out organic reactions. They are usually simple organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, and also oxygen or nitrogen, sometimes sulphur. They are usually liquids at room temperature and have boiling points ranging from 40 ºC to 200 ºC. Common examples are hexane, cyclohexane (CyH), acetone, tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene (PhMe), ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), benzene (PhH), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or dimethylformamide (DMF).

Whatever Organic Compound that You Can Imagine Making on an Organic Chemistry Lab

The only limit for organic compounds is the imagination of the chemist. Theres is most likely an infinite number of combinations in which you can arrange carbon and hydrogen atoms to form organic compounds. Not to mention other elements.

That’s something I just made up in less than 1 minute in ChemDraw, and it seems like a totally reasonable organic compound.

Examples of Inorganic Compounds

Getting ready to study the realm of inorganic chemistry? These are just some common examples of inorganic molecules.

NaCl – Sodium Chloride or Table Salt

The salt you use for cooking is mostly sodium chloride, NaCl, and this is the most classical example of an inorganic compound. Specifically, it’s an ionic compound composed of an equal number of sodium(I) cations and chloride anions, arranged though a symmetrical three-dimensional network.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is another example of inorganic compound with a chemical formula CO₂.  Despite of the presence of carbon atom, CO₂ is considered an inorganic compounds because containing carbon and covalent bonds doesn’t directly make a compound organic. You need a C–H bond or an equivalent.

For example, carbon tetrachloride, CCl4, is considered an organic compound, because instead of C–H covalent bonds it has C–Cl bonds, which are electronically equivalent. The bonding model in carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other small inorganic compounds is quite different.

Diamond and Graphite

Allotropes of carbon such as graphite, graphene or diamond are classified as inorganic compounds, even when they have

Example of an Organometallic Compound

Right in the middle of organic and inorganic compounds, we can find organometallic compounds, which are characterized by having a carbon–metal bond (which in many cases is a “hybrid” between a covalent and an ionic bond).

An example of this are Grignard reagents (such as phenyl magnesium bromide) or organolithium compounds (such as butyl lithium).

To Sum Up

I hope we managed to explain clearly the basic differences between organic and inorganic compounds.

Organic compounds always contain carbon atoms, and almost always hydrogen atoms, all of them held together by covalent forces.

Inorganic compounds are just the rest!

The post What Is the Difference Between Organic and Inorganic Compounds? appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Especially in the most recent years, many conference lectures by the best research group leaders on chemistry are being recorded and posted publicly online, so everybody can enjoy them and learn about chemistry. All around the globe. Without the need to travel long distances.

Simply thinking about it is amazing! Who could have though that this would be possible >30 years ago. At that time, the possibility of even checking research papers online, did not exist. We did research without the aid of databases on the library.

Now you can access all research that has ever been published online. But not only that, you can also “assist to conferences virtually” from anywhere.

However, not only modern chemistry has been recorded. One of the greatest examples out there of online chemistry talks are the Woodward’s legendary lectures.

Woodward’s Organic Chemistry Lectures

R. B. Woodward won the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1965 for his achievements in the art and science of organic synthesis. In my opinion, he is the greatest organic chemist of all time. He could’ve gotten two more Nobel prizes if he didn’t die so young (1979, at 62), probably due to his contributions to the chemistry of metallocenes and to the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, among many others.

Anyway, he’s been known for giving epic hours-long lectures, explaining the details of his total synthesis. And some of these were filmed at the time! And now, thanks to the internet, are available to watch on YouTube. This is one example:

You can look for a couple more that are around the internet. Even if you are a young chemistry student, if you are interested in organic chemistry, you should take a look. Classical organic reactions that are employed in these >50 years old synthesis are the ones that are usually taught in undergraduate organic chemistry courses.

In any case, watching the master of organic chemistry is an incredible source of inspiration for any aspiring chemist.

The Best Conference Chemistry Lectures Online

As we already mentioned, more and more, we get big conference lectures tape recorded and posted online. These are some of the most enjoyable ones that we have found.

Baran’s Electrifying Chemistry

First off, you can watch and hour-long presentation on synthetic organic electrochemistry by Phil S. Baran, from Scripps Research.

In this lecture, he covers the main reasons behind how using electricity as oxidant/reductant, instead of a chemical reagent is the greenest possible approach for carrying out redox transformations.

New chemical reactivity is being unlocked month after month taking advantage of synthetic electrochemistry. Here, Baran summarizes how he and his research group are pursuing this field of chemistry. He also presents new IKA equipment for carrying out electrochemical transformations in a reproducible manner.

2018 Nobel Prize Frances Arnold

Frances Arnold, from Caltech, won the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry for her contributions to the field of directed evolution of enzymes. This lecture is from one year before, in a symposium called “Tailored Biology”.

Her ground-breaking research has to do with modifying enzymes, to make them catalyze chemical transformations that they would not promote naturally, or at least not as selectively.

John Goodenough’s Nobel Prize Press Conference

John Goodenough, a chemistry professor at the University of Texas (Austin), and he is the oldest Nobel laureate of all time!

Prof. Goodenough got his Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2019, as a recognition of his contributions on the development of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. What’s to say about this discovery? All of us use rechargeable batteries on a daily basis, all the time. We cannot imagine a world without them right now. And one of the main responsible people for these advances is this man. Here’s his Nobel press conference:

The Magic of Chemistry by David Leigh

In 2016, the Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded jointly to Ben Feringa, Fraser Stoddart, and Jean-Pierre Sauvage. They got it for their work on molecular machines, an exploding and revolutionary field within supramolecular chemistry.

Arguably, the fourth key player on this field is David Leigh. He also works on molecular machines. But his lectures are best-known for his personal touch. He is also a professional magician, and brings magic tricks to the chemistry lectures. Apart from presenting some amazing research, the magic makes these lectures some of the best in the world. And you can enjoy and watch one of these online chemistry lectures right now.

The Best Educational Chemistry Lectures

Besides top-tier ground-breaking research conference lectures, you can also enjoy and learn form some more educational resources.

Some More Magical Chemistry

Some of the most both educational and entertaining videos that you can find online on chemistry are the ones by Andrew Szydlo.

He goes though color and phase changes, and he leads students through the world of “playing tricks” with molecules. This might seem like a long video, but I assure you, if you decide to start to watch it, make sure that you don’t have anything to do for the following hour-and-a-half!

Walter Lewin’s Physics Lectures

So we are past chemistry for this video. But I bring it to your attention for two reasons:

• Chemistry and physics are heavily packed together.
• The lectures by MIT professor Walter Lewin are just fantastic, the best educational videos I have ever watched online.

To be fair, when I started studying some physics in college, I didn’t enjoy them that much. That was until I found Lewin’s lectures online. This made love physics almost as much as chemistry.

MIT Lectures from Your Couch

Who said that not anyone in the world can take chemistry lectures from MIT? Now it is completely possible with this and other courses on chemistry offered by this prestigious institution.

Here, this solid state chemistry course is a brilliant example of some of the best online chemistry lectures from a purely educational point of view.

General Chemistry Online Lecture Series (UCI)

This is another example, this time brought to you by the OpenCourseWare of UC Irvine. This is one of the best educational series of lectures on general chemistry that you can watch online.

Periodic Videos!

Finally, we could not end this post with a mention to the Periodic Videos YouTube channel. Here, Sir Martyn Poliakoff and the rest of his team at the University of Nottingham, tackle the most exciting chemistry facts, experiments and questions. Here, every experiment that you alway wanted to perform, but couldn’t, is answered in these videos.

As the title of the site claims, they have covered the entire periodic table, with at least one video on each of the elements. Go on now and check the one for your favorite element!

Closing Up

As you can see, there is plenty of online chemistry lectures that you can explore throughout the internet. These are just some examples, but go ahead and find some more that fit your interests!

Finally, make sure to share your favorite chemistry lectures in the comment sections with us!

The post Watch The Best Online Chemistry Lectures From Your Coach appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Perhaps some would argue that this Chemistry area is not as “cool” as others, but I am sure that those who agree with me will find plenty of reasons to support the beauty of analytical chemistry.

But in any case, it’s something really necessary, and for making the process of learning it easier, getting your hands on the best analytical chemistry textbook that you can find its key.

But… What Do Analytical Chemists Do?

Now I might have caught a bit your attention on the subject, but, what is exactly analytical chemistry? A dictionary definition would say:

“Analytical chemistry is a scientific discipline which develops and applies methods, instruments, and strategies to obtain information on the composition and nature of matter in space and time”.

Kellner, R. Analytical Chemistry 1994, 66, 99A–101A

Fancy, but maybe not very insightful for a beginner. Analytical chemistry deals essentially with three aspects: measurement, analysis, and information. That’s it! In analytical chemistry you measure (quantity, concentration, etc.) a chemical/biochemical substance, you analyze the results, and then you obtain useful information that can be used to solve a technical (or social) problem.

This process seems simple, but the importance can be huge. A good example is residual pesticides found in food, which must comply with stringent regulations that define acceptable limits (although some substances are totally forbidden) for their presence in food. Analytical chemists work all the time on problems like this, and we are grateful for that!

Not only that, chemist from other disciplines (physical, organic, inorganic) base their daily research and rely on results obtained from analytical techniques (such as GCMS or LCMS analysis).

More interested in analytical chemistry now? Great! the next step is to open a book and start reading. As in all fields of science, we always start from the basics before achieving mastery. Of course, with a good analytical chemistry book, the path is going to be even better, particularly if some of you have already experienced some problems learning analytical chemistry. 

Furthermore, if you are a professor looking to find the very best book to base your lectures on, we’ve got you covered too.

What is the Best Analytical Chemistry Textbook?

But, which book do we choose? What is the best analytical chemistry textbook? Don’t worry, in this review, we will help you to find exactly the textbook you need.

For starters, we are going to make it easy for you and disclose our preference as top pick, which is Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Daniel C. Harris. Even thought Skoog’s comes as second runner up, Harris’ is simply as good as it gets regarding analytical chemistry texts for college.

Harris Quantitative Chemical Analysis

We will now quickly summarize all the reviewed texts, and then go deep exploring the pros and cons of each of then on the specific reviews.

Quick Reference Table: Top 5 Analytical Chemistry Books

Complete Review of All Books

Harris Quantitative Chemical Analysis

Considered the gold standard for analytical chemistry, the Quantitative Chemical Analysis book by Daniel C. Harris (and Charles A. Lucy in the latest version) has been in the bookstores since 1982.

Harris Quantitative Chemical Analysis

A must-to-read book for anyone interested (grad or undergrad) in analytical chemistry, this book is easy to understand and contains several examples and problems that will make learning analytical chemistry a much friendlier experience. 

It will provide you with sound principles of analytical chemistry and will teach “How” and “Why” analytical chemistry should be applied in real-life situations.  You will also find this book very useful for learning instrumental analysis, being a great balance between readability for non-Chemistry majors and in-depth content for more advanced readers.

Being a very comprehensive book, you will find information from the basic statistics, through acid-base equilibria, titrations, to electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and chromatography. The use of suitable software is also encouraged and exemplified in most, if not all, topics. 

This book is written in a quite straightforward style that makes its content easy to follow and understand. Concepts are presented right away and succinctly explained. If you want direct answers to your questions, this is the book of choice.

Skoog Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry

A book with a good price/quality ratio, although it is more suitable for readers already familiar with analytical chemistry topics. Written by Douglas A. Skoog, Donald M. West, F. James Holler, and Stanley R. Crouch, it is a readable and engaging book with well-explained examples that is a safe bet to learn the principles of analytical chemistry and much more.

Skoog Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry

Being a very comprehensive book, it is also reinforced by multiple high-quality images and case studies that properly demonstrate the principles, importance, and applicability of analytical chemistry. Several questions and problems are also presented for readers to practice.

Interesting topics such as kinetics methods of analysis and supercritical fluid separations, which are not common among analytical chemistry textbooks, are also covered in this book. This is one of my favorite books in analytical chemistry, and for sure, the book I recommend on every chemist shelf.

Analytical Chemistry (Christian)

This book, authored by Gary D. Christian, Purnendu K. Dasgupta, and Kevin A. Schug, is already in the 7^th edition.

Analytical Chemistry (Christian)

Particularly designed for undergraduate students in fields related to chemistry, it contains the necessary techniques and principles related to quantitative and instrumental analysis. The book has a modern approach with a clear methodology and explanations. It is also very versatile, being useful as an introductory text for first courses in analytical chemistry or as a reference guide for practicing analytical chemists.

Nevertheless, the style of this book might result more difficult to follow, so some base of chemistry is advisable before start reading and practicing. Not a first-choice book for people from other fields adventuring into analytical chemistry for the first time.

Worth to mention: an entire section of the book is devoted to genomics and proteomics, making it very useful for analytical chemistry in biological applications.

Analytical Chemistry and Quantitative Analysis

David Hage and James Carr created a book with a contemporary approach, presenting practice and applications of today’s analytical chemistry.

Analytical Chemistry and Quantitative Analysis

Applications span from forensics to environmental analysis and pharmaceutical sciences, although other interesting topics are also approached. Ideal as an undergraduate quantitative analysis book, as well as an introductory book to the area.

Easy to follow, this book somewhat combines the material from the more comprehensive “Quantitative Chemical Analysis” and “Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry” and put it in a clearer version.

Principles and Practice of Analytical Chemistry

The book, created by F.W. Fifield and David Kealey, is already in the 5^th edition. Recognized as a complete and useful reference manual, is another example of a particularly valuable analytical chemistry book for undergraduate students.

Principles and Practice of Analytical Chemistry

Coming at a much more affordable price is also very encouraging, particularly if you are seeking a quick reference book of principles and techniques for practical applications. Not as comprehensive as other books, it is a concise presentation of up-to-date information regarding modern molecular spectrometry, atomic spectrometry, and separation techniques.

The focus is more practical in comparison to other books, including chapters devoted to automation as well as the role of computers and microprocessors in analytical chemistry. Thermal and radiochemical techniques are also included in this book, reinforcing its value as a reference book for analytical chemists that are already working in the area. 

Closing Up and Final Thoughts

There are different great books to learn analytical chemistry from out there. There are many different options for each taste. Here we presented the best five in our opinion.

However, if you want a safe choice with which you can never go wrong, don’t think twice a go for Harris’ Quantitative Chemical Analysis. The second runner up would be Skoog’s.

No matter which one you choose, always keep in mind that with a good textbook and with a touch of perseverance, you will find yourself mastering analytical chemistry faster than you think.

Finally, I would like to remind you that if you are going through the awesome process of learning chemistry, we have you covered with reviews for the best textbook on the other major subjects of this science: Check them here for organic, inorganic, physical and general chemistry!

As always, please, let us know in the comments if you find any discrepancy, or if you want to suggest an alternative textbook for discussion. (Since we only include here the books that we have available for review ourselves).

The post The Best Analytical Chemistry Textbook appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Through chemistry history, different materials have been employed to build these containers, although it is generally acknowledged that glass is the material of choice for most applications. From simple test tubes to the more complex micro-Kjeldahl distillation units, glass is used in most, if not all for some fields, chemical experiments performed in a laboratory.

Whether you are an experienced researcher or a curious student trying to unveil the fascinating world of chemistry, I am sure you will find in this article several interesting details that you could have missed and could be very useful once you are in front of you laboratory bench. Remember, small details make big differences!, particularly in experimental Chemistry.

Considering this, in the following paragraphs, you will find a description and useful information about the most common laboratory glassware found in any laboratory. All of them come with pictures so you can esily identify those weird pieces of glassware sitting around in the lab.

Enjoy!

• Erlenmeyer flask: It has a cone shape and a cylindrical neck, being also flat by the base. It serves to contain substances or heat them, although the shape of this flask also helps to prevent liquid spillage and facilitates swirling motion to perform titrations, or other procedures. The narrow opening of this flask also prevents dust contamination and minimizes losses by evaporation.

• Volumetric flask: A flat bottom glass container with an elongated and narrow neck that presents a line that exactly defines the volume of any liquid substance. It is generally employed to prepare solutions.

• Beaker: A cylindrical container with a flat bottom and a wide opening. It consists of presents graduations that can often be used as a measurement reference. It is commonly used to contain substances as well as to heat them.

• Measuring cylinder: It is a cylindrical and graduated glass tube that is employed to measure precisely the volume of liquid substances.

• Test Tube: These are a small cylindrical glass tube with one end open and the other closed and rounded. It is used to prepare small reactions or tests in it. They are also commonly used to collect fractions in column chromatography.

• Büchner flask: Volumetrically graduated glass container. It has a small side tube coming out of the neck which can be connected to other equipment, generally a vacuum pump. Widely employed to perform vacuum filtrations along with a Büchner funnel.

• Round-Bottom Flask: This is probably one of the most common types of chemistry flasks. Ball-like container with a wide base and narrow neck that has a stopper. It is used when the substances contained must be stirred, avoiding spillage and evaporation of gases. It can possess one, two, or three necks. They are the bread and butter for setting up chemical reactions.

• Burette: Graduated container, usually made of glass. It is a long tube of small diameter with a stopcock that allows the liquid to drip. It is used to transfer exact amounts of liquids. The most common application of this are titrations.

• Desiccator: Not really a reaction container, but you do store chemicals in it. It is a glass container with a lid that allows a tight seal. It is used to remove moisture from solid substances. Silica gel (desiccant) is placed at the bottom, while the substance to be dried is placed on a plate a few centimeters above.

• Crystallizer: A low container with a flat base. It is used in the laboratory to crystallize the solute from a solution by evaporating the solvent.

• Fleaker flask: Sometimes used to heat liquids, not a very common piece of material. It resembles an Erlenmeyer flask and a beaker. Its body is cylindrical and culminates in a neck that curves before opening into a rounded opening.

• Two-necked flasks. These are round bottom flasks with multiple (2-3) necks or entrances. One is usually employed to take chemicals in or out for the reaction. The others can have multiple uses. They can be connected to a condenser to perform reactions under reflux conditions. You can attach a dropping funnel. You can also attach a connection with a source of an inert gas to work in a closed system under argon or nitrogen, for air-sensitive reactions.

• Kohlrausch volumetric flask: They are used for sugar determination, according to the Kohlrausch method.

• Kjeldahl flask: It is used for the determination of organic nitrogen. Guess how: the Kjedahl method.

• Iodine flask: It is used to make iodine determinations in quantitative analysis of substances by electron exchange (oxidization-reduction) titrations that involve the use of iodine (or any other volatile chemical, for that matter). It’s quite similar to an Erlenmeyer flask (but significantly more expensive!), but is equipped with a stopper joint in order to avoid partial losses of iodine through evaporation, which would lead to errors on the quantifications.

• Saybolt flask: Used for viscosity determination.

• Fernbach flask: It is a narrow neck flask. Its shape provides a large cultivation area suitable for growing microorganisms, in liquid nutrient media. It allows faster growth, due to better ventilation.

• Mojonnier flask: It is used in fat determination, which is extracted with a mixture of ethyl ether and petroleum ether in a Mojonnier flask, the extracted fat is placed at a constant weight and expressed as a percentage of fat by weight.

• Le Chatelier flask: It is used to determine the density of things. Generally applied to determining density of stuff such as hydraulic cement, granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash for concrete, filler aggregates, and lime.

• Schlenk flask: The corner stone of working under strictly anhydrous conditions. This flask is a reaction vessel designed to perform chemical reactions which are sensitive to air. There are many variations for this, but usually it has two different necks or connections, one designed to put in the chemical reagents, and another one that is simply a connection to a Schlenk line, or source of an inert gas such as argon or nitrogen.

• Straus flask: They differ mainly from other Schlenk flasks by their neck structure. Two necks emerge from a round bottom flask, one larger than the other. The largest neck ends in a frosted glass joint and is permanently distributed by the blown glass with direct access to the flask. The smaller neck includes the thread required for a Teflon cap to be screwed perpendicular to the flask. The two necks are joined through a glass tube. The frosted glass gasket can be connected to a manifold directly or through an adapter and a hose. A typical use for these is storing anhydrous solvents with molecular sieves.

• Collector or Receiver Flask: It is a glass jar, with a very short neck, spherical body, and frosted mouth. It is designed as a piece of glass in rotary evaporators, to collect distillations of reactions with reflux. It is usually made of borosilicate glass.

• Florentine Flask: It is a glass flask, with a long neck and spherical body. It is designed for uniform heating and is produced with different thicknesses of glass for different uses. It is usually made of borosilicate glass.

• Pear-shaped flask: It is designed for uniform heating and is produced with different thicknesses of glass for different uses. It is usually made of glass.

The biggest advantage of classic round bottomed flasks, is that its rounded base makes it easy to stir or remove its contents without being able to spill any substance out of its container as a precaution.

Pear-shaped flasks are used for evaporating solutions to dryness post-synthesis using a rotary evaporator, the ’rounded V’ shape of the flasks enables solid materials to be scraped out more efficiently than from a round-bottomed flask. Also, collecting liquids using a syringe, it’s easier with the pear-shape!

• Laboratory bottles: Made of borosilicate glass, they can withstand high temperatures and are of high chemical resistance. They are used basically to store chemicals and solutions, such as brine or ammonium chloride solutions for aqueous reaction work-ups.

• Dropper bottles with pipette: Contains substances. It has a dropper and for that reason, it allows dosing substances, such as organic solvents, in small quantities.

• Winkler oxygen bottles: It is made of clear glass, has a frosted cap and the exact volume is engraved on the bottle. It is used for the determination of dissolvable oxygen in the water.

• Big reaction vessels resistant to high temperatures or pressures. These reactors usually consist of two parts: a cylinder where the reaction mixture has to be introduced and a cap or head where there are usually different valves or connections necessary to carry out the reaction, to be able to control or monitor safety elements. In some cases, it has a heating jacket that plays the role of keeping the fluid at a constant temperature, either high or low.

• Microwave vials: Reaction vials that can be sealed with a cap, snd can resist high pressures. They are used to heat up reactions at temperatures higher than the boiling point of the employed solvent. This happens usually when heating using a microwave reactor.

• HPLC vials: These vial have a cap with a septum that can be pierced by needles, such as the ones from an HPLC or GCMS autosampler, so they are used to inject samples on instruments such as those. You can also set up small-scale chemical reactions on those if you have a stirring bar small enough!

As you can see, the list is long, and there is virtually a flask for every task you can possibly imagine. By the way, thanks to wikimedia for some of the pictures here.

Of course, you don’t really need everything if you want to set up of own home chemistry lab, but it is always good to know about them all!

The post Types of Chemistry Flasks: A Complete Guide appeared first on Chemistry Hall.

Some other students find are more intimidated by organic chemistry. However, most chemistry students are not incredibly fluent in maths, so all those physical chemistry equations can seem a bit overwhelming.

Physical chemistry isn’t the easiest subject to learn; it might frustrate you at times. Very basic and important concepts such as thermodynamics and kinetics are often overlooked in basic chemistry courses. However, if you have the right tools, in this case, the right books, you will have no problem whatsoever studying and passing exams. 

For this review, we will look at some of the best physical chemistry textbooks. For better or worse, it doesn’t seem to be a huge variety to choose from, in contrast with what happens with organic chemistry or general chemistry textbooks. So this comparison review will be quite concise, focused on the three most recommended physical chemistry reference books.

In any case, it does not matter if you are a college professor with a physical chemistry course to teach, or a student who is looking for a solid book to study from, either way, you are covered.

Our Top Pick: Which Book Is the Absolute Best?

After having used all the reviewed books, it didn’t take us long to choose McQuarrie’s Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach as the absolute best way to study, learn or teach physical chemistry.

Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

McQuarrie is definitely the king. The red book, even being still on it’s first edition, is undefeated as the best book to learn physical chem. I know many students that had another books defined as course assignment text, but turned to McQuarrie’s to really be able to grasp everything and ace the courses.

McQuarrie’s is just the way to go in most situations, you cannot go wrong with it.

The Best Physical Chemistry Books Reviewed

And now we jump right into the entire reviews!

1. Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

Authored by Donald A. McQuarrie and John D. Simon, this chemistry book is, without a doubt, the most logical and best physical chemistry book you will find anywhere. If you are a beginner, and you plan on getting your feet wet in physical chemistry, this book is an excellent choice.

Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

The book is logically organized, and its concepts are clear and very easy to follow. The math, which is also clear and easy to follow, comes before the physical chemistry chapters. For beginners, I find this helpful because rather than assuming you learned the math elsewhere, the book explains it to you. And there are adequate mathematical reviews at the end of each math section that you can go over. 

For more advanced students or courses, you aren’t left out. This book is the go-to textbook in the area of Thermodynamics and Quantum. I have never seen quantum chemistry explained in any other book as beautifully and enjoyably.

There are many problems on each chapter. You can grab a copy of the problems and solutions manual for McQuarrie here. Many say it is a must if you are interested in focusing on solving problems (which are the main part of courses and exams), or if you are an instructor.

What Makes McQuarrie’s Physical Chemistry the Best?

After explaining the mathematical equations in the math chapters, the book then introduces the fundamentals of quantum theory with explanations. And then base everything else on a microscopic, atomic/molecular standpoint. And this is revolutionary because it helps students to see the subject in a unified and logical fashion, not leaving them confused. As you are probably aware, quantum chemistry and thermodynamics cover many concepts which are difficult to grasp. But not so much with this book. It takes an approach which I feel is the easiest way to learn these concepts.

All in all, I’d say that this book is a must-have physical chemistry textbook that most students of chemistry or college professors and should have on their book shelf. 

I’ve even hear a story of a non-chemist science enthusiast that grabbed a copy of this book and found it to be highly entertaining and instructive! It leaves you with a great feeling on how chemistry works from a (sub)atomic point of view.

To finish, the only drawback is the fact that the book hasn’t been updated since first release, so the figures can be a bit ugly and sometimes not easy to understand.

2. Atkin’s Physical Chemistry

Next runner up is Physical Chemistry by Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula and James Keeler. Now, here’s an updated and nicely illustrated textbook.

It comes in two volumes. The first one covers thermodynamics and kinetics. On my case, I studied quantum at college before thermodynamics and kinetics, so it seemed to me a bit counterintuitive. But I guess the two-volumes distribution was established for exactly this kind of situations.

This is nice, so you only have to buy and handle a 450 pages book for your thermodynamics and kinetics courses.

Atkins’ Physical Chemistry Volume 1: Thermodynamics and Kinetics

The second volume covers quantum chemistry and spectroscopy. It goes on for a little less than 400 pages, and focuses on the physical chemistry itself, not too much in the math behind. it gives just enough to be understandable with a solid base. But you’d better be equipped with that skillset!

Atkins’ Physical Chemistry Volume 2: Quantum Chemistry, Spectroscopy, and Statistical Thermodynamics

Atkins’ books excel in probably being a bit easier to read than McQuarrie’s. It reads pretty much like a novel, and the well illustrated modern figures definitely help. Besides, the book was updated in 2018 with its 11th edition. These are probably the facts that make Atkins’ the most ubiquitous textbook as part university courses syllabus. It’s a great primary resource.

It goes less in depth than McQuarrie’s, but it is arguably easier to read and a bit less dry.

The corresponding Student Solutions Manual also makes Atkin’s text complete.

3. Levine’s Physical Chemistry

I would say that Physical Chemistry by Ira N. Levine is the third most widely used physical chemistry book over the world. This book aims at making the learning process as easy as possible.

Levine’s Physical Chemistry

It comes with stepwise derivations and all maths quite carefully explained. Does a better job than Atkins’ but still not at the level of McQuarrie’s.

This book is on its 6th edition, but this update was released in 2008. It is written on a more formal or more dry manner than Atkins’, but this also makes it pretty specific and concise most of the times.

However, I would not recommend this text over the other two. It does a good job, but Atkins’ and McQuarrie’s do it better.

Closing Up

In summary, whatever textbook you select for guarding you from mighty physical chemistry, be aware that these courses can be a real challenge.

Just put enough time into studying and you will be fine. Also, make sure to have a decent base on maths (especially calculus) before taking physical chem courses. If you put time, have a good base, and one of these great textbooks, you will do fine.

In terms of comparison, we have already stated how McQuarrie’s Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach is the winner of the race. It is simply the best book for learning the subject from scratch, since even the math is explained carefully. It is particularly wonderful for quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics.

Even if your course ask you to follow Atkin’s or Levine’s, McQuarrie’s makes up for the best supplement.

On the other hand, Atkins’ can be arguably considered as the best “starting point” book out of the three. That is probably why it is the most recommended one for university courses.

This is all from our side. Make sure to check our general guide for learning chemistry. You can find there plenty of other resources that we have published or updated recently.

And also, please, if you have any comment or suggestion, or another book that you would like to see reviewed, go ahead and hit the comments section!

The post What Is The Best Physical Chemistry Textbook? appeared first on Chemistry Hall.