E-Book Overview
This book places oxygen on the center stage of chemistry in a manner that parallels the focus on carbon by 19th century chemists. One measure of the significance of oxygen chemistry is the greater diversity of oxygen-containing molecules than of carbon-containing molecules. One of the most important compounds is water, containing the properties of being a unique medium for biological chemistry and life, the source of all the dioxygen in the atmosphere, and the moderator of the earth's climate. Sawyer first introduces the biological origins of dioxygen and role of dioxygen in aerobic biology and oxidative metabolism, and in separate chapters discusses the oxidation-reduction thermodynamics of oxygen species, and the nature of the bonding for oxygen in its compounds. Additional chapters focus on the reactivities of specific oxygen compounds. The book will be of interest to chemists and biochemists, as well as graduate students, life scientists, and medical researchers.
E-Book Content
OXYGEN CHEMISTRY
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES OF MONOGRAPHS ON CHEMISTRY 1. J. D. Lambert: Vibrational and rotational relaxation in gases 2. N. G. Parsonage and L. A. K. Staveley: Disorder in crystals 3. G. C. Maitland, M. Rigby/ E. B. Smith, and W. A. Wakeham: Intermolecular forces: their origin and determination 4. W. G. Richards, H. P. Trivedi, and D. L. Cooper: Spin-orbit coupling in molecules 5. C. F. Cullis and M. M. Hirschler: The combustion of organic polymers 6. R. T. Bailey, A. M. North, and R. A. Pethrick: Molecular motion in high polymers 7. Atta-ur-Rahman and A. Basha: Biosynthesis of indole alkaloids 8. J. S. Rowlinson and B. Widom: Molecular theory of capillarity 9. C. G. Gray and K. E. Gubbins: Theory of molecular fluids. Volume 1: Fundamentals 10. C. G. Gray and K. E. Gubbins: Theory of molecular fluids. Volume 2: Applications 11. S. Wilson: Electron correlation in molecules 12. E. Haslam: Metabolites and metabolism: a commentary on secondary metabolism 13. G. R. Fleming: Chemical applications ofultrafast spectroscopy 14. R. R. Ernst, G. Bodenhausen, and A. Wokaun: Principles of nuclear magnetic resonance in one and two dimensions 15. M. Goldman: Quantum description of high-resolution NMR in liquids 16. R. G. Parr and W. Yang: Density-functional theory of atoms and molecules 17. J. C. Vickerman, A. Brown, and N. M. Reed (editors): Secondary ion mass spectrometry: principles and applications 18. F. R. McCourt, J. Beenakker, W. E. Kohler, and I. Kuscer: Nonequilibrium phenomena in polyatomic gases. Volume 1: Dilute gases 19. F. R. McCourt, J. Beenakker, W. E. Kohler, and I. Kuscer: Nonequilibrium phenomena in polyatomic gases. Volume 2: Cross sections, scattering, and rarefied gases 20. T. Mukaiyama: Challenges in synthetic organic chemistry 21. P. Gray and S. K. Scott: Chemical oscillations and instabilities: non-linear chemical kinetics 22. R. F. W. Bader: Atoms in molecules: a quantum theory 23. J. H. Jones: The chemical synthesis of peptides 24. S. K. Scott: Chemical chaos 25. M. S. Child: Semidassical mechanics with molecular applications 26. D. T. Sawyer: Oxygen chemistry 27. P. A. Cox: Transition metal oxides: an introduction to their electronic structure and properties
OXYGEN CHEMISTRY Donald T. Sawyer TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Foreword by Professor R. J. P. Williams, FRS
New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1991
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Copyright © 1991 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprod