Learn about this topic in these articles:

Assorted References

major reference
- In alcohol: Oxidation
  Alcohols may be oxidized to give ketones, aldehydes, and carboxylic acids. These functional groups are useful for further reactions; for example, ketones and aldehydes can be used in subsequent Grignard reactions, and carboxylic acids can be used for esterification. Oxidation of organic compounds generally…
  Read More
- In oxidation-reduction reaction: Major classifications
  , in any oxidation reaction a reciprocal reduction occurs, and (2) they involve a characteristic net chemical change—i.e., an atom or electron goes from one unit of matter to another. Both reciprocity and net change are illustrated below in examples of the three most common types of oxidation-reduction…
  Read More
electrochemical analysis
- In chemical analysis: Electroanalysis
  …one or more electrons (oxidation) to the electrode. As an example, ferric iron (Fe³⁺) can be assayed because it can undergo a reduction to ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) by accepting an electron from the electrode as shown in the following reaction:
  Read More
evolution of atmosphere
- In climate: The evolution of life and the atmosphere
  … (high hydrogen content) rather than oxidizing (high oxygen content). In addition to their chemically reducing character, the predominant gases of this prebiotic atmosphere, with the exception of nitrogen, were largely transparent to incoming sunlight but opaque to outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation. As a result, these gases are called, perhaps improperly,…
  Read More
extraction and refining
- In metallurgy: Pyrometallurgy
  …both extraction and refining, are oxidation and reduction. In oxidation, metals having a great affinity for oxygen selectively combine with it to form metallic oxides; these can be treated further in order to obtain a pure metal or can be separated and discarded as a waste product. Reduction can be…
  Read More
- In gold processing: Extraction from refractory ores
  …by treating them with various oxidizing processes. The most common method is to roast gold-bearing minerals at temperatures of 450° to 750° C (840° to 1,380° F) to destroy the interfering sulfides. Oxidation can also be accomplished by the use of high-pressure reactors called autoclaves, in which the minerals in…
  Read More
food products
- In meat processing: Oxidation state of iron
  The oxidation state of the iron atom of myoglobin also plays a significant role in meat colour. Meat such as beef viewed immediately after cutting is purple in colour because water is bound to the reduced iron atom of the myoglobin…
  Read More
- In food additive: Antioxidants
  The oxidation of food products involves the addition of an oxygen atom to or the removal of a hydrogen atom from the different chemical molecules found in food. Two principal types of oxidation that contribute to food deterioration are autoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids (i.e., those…
  Read More
photochemical reactions and photosensitization
- In photochemical reaction: Photosensitization
  The oxidation reaction often changes the molecule to a form without colour. This light-induced bleaching (one kind of photodamage) can be observed in nearly any coloured material left in sunlight. In fact, the photosynthetic systems in plants must be continuously dismantled, repaired, and rebuilt because of…
  Read More
physical metallurgy
- In metallurgy: Chemical properties
  Almost any metal will oxidize in air, the only exception being gold. At room temperature a clean metal surface will oxidize very little, since a thin oxide film forms and protects the metal from further oxidation. At elevated temperatures, though, oxidation is faster, and the film is less protective.…
  Read More
resistance of nickel
- In nickel processing: Heat-resistant alloys
  Nickel is resistant to oxidation at high temperatures and to electrical erosion. For these reasons, alloys that are high in nickel, such as the 4 percent manganese alloy, are used for spark plug electrodes in automobiles and for other types of ignitors. The addition of 15–20 percent of chromium…
  Read More

combustion

In combustion: Special combustion reactions
…not yet clear, probably because oxidation of carbon monoxide, a reaction that is part of the combustion of practically all natural fuels, usually occurs in the presence of hydrogen or hydrogen compounds: the breakdown of wood, coal, petroleum, etc., during burning produces carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and compounds of carbon and…
Read More

chemiluminescence
- In chemiluminescence
  …is most commonly generated by oxidation. The radiation can usually be ascribed to the transfer of the oxidation energy to a molecule that is itself not undergoing oxidation. This molecule then loses the excitation energy by emitting light of the proper wavelength. A large number of substances (e.g., formaldehyde, paraldehyde,…
  Read More
coal
- In coal utilization: Combustion reactions
  …contribute to heat release are oxidation reactions, which convert the constituent elements of coal into their respective oxides, as shown in the Table. In the table, the negative signs indicate reactions that release heat (exothermic reactions), whereas the positive sign indicates a reaction that absorbs heat (endothermic reaction).
  Read More
phlogiston theory
- In phlogiston
  …and sulfur underwent reactions of oxidation or reduction (deoxidation); and he showed that the newly discovered element oxygen was always involved. Although a number of chemists—notably Joseph Priestley, one of the discoverers of oxygen—tried to retain some form of the phlogiston theory, by 1800 practically every chemist recognized the correctness…
  Read More
spontaneous combustion
- In spontaneous combustion
  It begins with a slow oxidation process (as bacterial fermentation or atmospheric oxidation) under conditions not permitting ready dissipation of heat—e.g., in the centre of a haystack or a pile of oily rags. Oxidation gradually raises the temperature inside the mass to the point at which a fire starts. Crops…
  Read More

physiological aspects

aging theories
- In aging: Oxidative damage theory
  …cells can result in the oxidation of proteins and other cellular molecules. Oxidation entails the loss of electrons from these molecules, causing them to become unstable and highly reactive and leading to their eventual reaction with and damage of cell components such as membranes. Such reactive molecules are known as…
  Read More
fatty acids
- In lipid: Oxidation of fatty acids
  Inside the muscle cell, free fatty acids are converted to a thioester of a molecule called coenzyme A, or CoA. (A thioester is a compound in which the linking oxygen in an ester is replaced by a sulfur atom.) Oxidation of…
  Read More
inhibition by vitamin E
- In vitamin E
  , an inhibitor of oxidation processes) in body tissues. It protects unsaturated fats in the body from oxidation by peroxides and other free radicals. The possibility that vitamin E may help prolong an active life span by slowing the rate of oxidative destruction of biological membranes is under study.…
  Read More
metabolism
- In metabolism: Incomplete oxidation
  …incompletely oxidized (in this sense, oxidation means the removal of electrons or hydrogen atoms), the end product being (apart from carbon dioxide and water) one of only three possible substances: the two-carbon compound acetate, in the form of a compound called acetyl coenzyme A; the four-carbon compound oxaloacetate; and the…
  Read More
- In metabolism: The nature of the respiratory chain
  Overall oxidation of reduced NAD⁺ by oxygen (ΔE₀ = +1,140 millivolts) is accompanied by the liberation of free energy (ΔG′ = −52.4 kilocalories per mole). In theory, this energy is sufficient to allow the synthesis of six or seven molecules of ATP. In the cell, however,…
  Read More
metabolism and chemical removal
- In poison: Biotransformation
  …reactions can be classified as oxidation, reduction, or hydrolysis. Oxidation is carried out by cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases, mixed-function amine oxidases, and alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases. The reactions mediated by cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases can make the chemical less toxic or more toxic. The cytochrome P-450 enzymes can, for example, produce epoxides…
  Read More
respiration
- In human respiratory system: Interplay of respiration, circulation, and metabolism
  …the mitochondria, where, through the oxidation of foodstuffs such as glucose, the energetic needs of the cells are supplied. The precise object of respiration therefore is the supply of oxygen to the mitochondria.
  Read More

preparation of

dyes
- In dye: Triphenylmethane dyes
  …as a product of dichromate oxidation of impure aniline motivated chemists to examine oxidations of aniline with an array of reagents. Sometime between 1858 and 1859, French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin found that reaction of aniline with stannic chloride gave a fuchsia, or rose-coloured, dye, which he named fuchsine. It was…
  Read More
halogen elements
- In halogen: Oxidation
  Probably the most important generalization that can be made about the halogen elements is that they are all oxidizing agents; i.e., they raise the oxidation state, or oxidation number, of other elements—a property that used to be equated with combination with oxygen but that…
  Read More
hydrogen
- In hydrogen: Production and applications of hydrogen
  …production is the noncatalytic partial oxidation of hydrocarbons under elevated pressures: C_nH_2n+2 + (n/2)O₂→ nCO + (n + 1)H₂. This process requires a feed system for delivering precise rates of fuel and oxygen, burners of special design to give rapid mixing of the reactants, a refractory-lined reactor, and a cooling…
  Read More
linoleum
- In linoleum
  …in which linseed oil is oxidized in large cylindrical kettles where the oil is stirred at elevated temperatures. The oxidization is continued until the oil barely flows at reaction temperature; then the oil is blended with resin in heated kettles and the mixture is exposed to hot air. The plastic…
  Read More
phenol and acetone
- In phenol: Oxidation of isopropylbenzene
  Benzene is converted to isopropylbenzene (cumene) by treatment with propylene and an acidic catalyst. Oxidation yields a hydroperoxide (cumene hydroperoxide), which undergoes acid-catalyzed rearrangement to phenol and acetone. Although this
  Read More
wine
- In wine: Fermentation
  …must be restricted to prevent oxidation during fermentation. In very large containers, the volume of carbon dioxide given off is sufficient to prevent entry of air. In small fermenters, fermentation traps are inserted, preventing entry of air but permitting exit of carbon dioxide. These traps are particularly desirable during the…
  Read More

reaction of

amines
- In amine: Oxidation
  Amines can burn in air, producing water, carbon dioxide, and either nitrogen or its oxides. Milder oxidation, using reagents such as NaOCl, can remove four hydrogen atoms from primary amines of the type RCH₂NH₂ to form nitriles (R―C≡N), and oxidation with reagents such as…
  Read More
carboxylic acids
- In carboxylic acid: Oxidation
  The oxidation of primary alcohols is a common method for the synthesis of carboxylic acids: RCH₂OH → RCOOH. This requires a strong oxidizing agent, the most common being chromic acid (H₂CrO₄), potassium permanganate (KMnO₄), and nitric acid (HNO₃).
  Read More
hydrocarbons
- In hydrocarbon: Reactions
  …ring is relatively resistant toward oxidation with the exception of its combustion. Arenes that bear alkyl side chains, when treated with strong oxidizing agents, undergo oxidation of the side chain while the ring remains intact.
  Read More
ketones
- In ketone: Reactions of ketones
  Secondary alcohols are easily oxidized to ketones (R₂CHOH → R₂CO). The reaction can be halted at the ketone stage because ketones are generally resistant to further oxidation. Oxidation of a secondary alcohol to a ketone can be accomplished by many oxidizing agents, most often chromic acid (H₂CrO₄), pyridinium chlorochromate…
  Read More
monosaccharides
- In carbohydrate: Chemical reactions
  …or keto group can be oxidized to form products has been known for a considerable time and once was the basis for the detection of these so-called reducing sugars in a variety of sources. For many years, analyses of blood glucose and urinary glucose were carried out by a procedure…
  Read More
organic compounds
- In electrochemical reaction: Oxidation and reduction of organic compounds
  A reaction of the oxidation and reduction of organic compounds can also be done at electrodes. Such reactions, however, are mostly irreversible in the literal sense that they lead to products that cannot easily be converted back into the…
  Read More
organosulfur compounds
- In organosulfur compound: Reactions
  Oxidation of thiols initially affords disulfides, which can also be formed by the combination of thiyl radicals. Sulfenic acids, R―SO―H, can be isolated as the first-formed oxidation product from sterically hindered thiols; these react further with thiols to form disulfides. There are a number of…
  Read More
phenols
- In phenol: Oxidation
  Like other alcohols, phenols undergo oxidation, but they give different types of products from those seen with aliphatic alcohols. For example, chromic acid oxidizes most phenols to conjugated 1,4-diketones called quinones. In the presence of oxygen in the air, many phenols slowly oxidize to…
  Read More