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Publicly Available Published by De Gruyter May 31, 2016

Comprehensive Definition of Oxidation State

From the journal Chemistry International

Oxidation state (OS) is a simple numerical attribute of an atom in a compound, which aids the systematic descriptive chemistry of the elements, scales trends in properties, and tracks key chemistry changes in reactions. Lacking a comprehensive definition, OS has so far been defined via algorithms for its calculation or with postulated values. This document provides a definition of OS based on ionic approximation of chemical bonds. Associated with the definition’s underlying principle of bond-electron allegiance, two general algorithms are outlined for OS determination in a molecule, ion, or a solid, described by a Lewis formula or a bond graph. Typical origins of ambiguous OS values are pointed out, and the relationship between OS and the d-electron configuration of transition metals is commented on.

Comments by 31 May 2016

Corresponding author: Pavel Karen < >

www.iupac.org/project/2008-040-1-200


Provisional Recommendations are drafts of IUPAC recommendations on terminology, nomenclature, and symbols, made widely available to allow interested parties to comment before the recommendations are finally revised and published in IUPAC’s journal Pure and Applied Chemistry. Full text is available online.


Published Online: 2016-5-31
Published in Print: 2016-5-1

©2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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