Common Catalysts and Reagents - Organic Chemistry, CSIR-NET Chemical Sciences - Government Jobs PDF Download

Name

General Description

Acetic acid

an organic acid; is one of the simplest carboxylic acids

Acetone

an organic compound; simplest example of the ketones

Acetylene

a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne; widely used as a fuel and chemical building block

Ammonia

inorganic; the precursor to most nitrogen-containing compounds; used to make fertilizer

Ammonium hydroxide

aqueous ammonia; used in traditional qualitative inorganic analysis

Azobisisobutyronitrile

organic compound; often used as a foamer in plastics and rubber and as a radical initiator

Baeyer's reagent

is an alkaline solution of potassium permanganate; used in organic chemistry as a qualitative test for the presence of unsaturation, such as double bonds;

N-Bromosuccinimide

used in radical substitution and electrophilic addition reactions in organic chemistry

Butanone (methyl ethyl ketone)

organic compound; similar solvent properties to acetone but has a significantly slower evaporation rate

Butylated hydroxytoluene

a fat-soluble organic compound that is primarily used as an antioxidant food additive

n-Butyllithium

an organolithium reagent; used as a polymerization initiator in the production of elastomers such as polybutadiene or styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS)

Carbon disulfide

a non-polar solvent; used frequently as a building block in organic chemistry

Carbon tetrachloride

toxic, and its dissolving power is low; consequently, it has been largely superseded by deuterated solvents

Carbonyldiimidazole

often used for the coupling of amino acids for peptide synthesis and as a reagent in organic synthesis

Ceric ammonium nitrate

an inorganic compound; used as an oxidising agent in organic synthesis and as a standard oxidant in quantitative analysis

Chloroform

organic compound; often used as CHCl3 (deuterated chloroform) as a solvent for NMR spectroscopy and as a general solvent.

Chromic acid

a strong and corrosive oxidising agent; an intermediate in chromium plating

Chromium trioxide

the acidic anhydride of chromic acid; mainly used in chrome-plating

Collins reagent

used to selectively oxidize primary alcohols to an aldehyde

Copper(I) iodide

useful in a variety of applications ranging from organic synthesis to cloud seeding

Dess–Martin periodinane

chemical reagent used to oxidize primary alcohols to aldehydes and secondary alcohols to ketones

Diborane

the central organic synthesis reagent for hydroboration

Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide

an organic compound; primary use is to couple amino acids during artificial peptide synthesis

Diethyl azodicarboxylate

a valuable reagent but also quite dangerous and explodes upon heating

Diethyl ether

organic compound; a common laboratory solvent

Dihydropyran

a heterocyclic compound; used as a protecting group for alcohols in organic synthesis.

Diisobutylaluminium hydride

an organoaluminium compound ; a reducing agent; converts esters and nitriles to aldehydes

Diisopropyl azodicarboxylate

the diisopropyl ester of azodicarboxylic acid; a reagent in the production of many organic compounds

Dimethyl ether

the simplest ether; a useful precursor to other organic compounds and an aerosol propellant

Dimethylformamide

organic compound; a common solvent for chemical reactions

Dimethylsulfide

organosulfur compound; used in petroleum refining and in petrochemical production processes; a reducing agent in ozonolysis reactions

Dimethyl sulfoxide

an organosulfur compound; an important polar aprotic solvent that dissolves both polar and nonpolar compounds

Dioxane

a heterocyclic organic compound; classified as an ether

Ethanol

a powerful psychoactive drug; used in alcoholic beverages, in thermometers, as a solvent, and as a fuel

Fehling's reagent

used to differentiate between water-soluble aldehyde and ketone functional groups

Fenton's reagent

a solution of hydrogen peroxide and an iron catalyst that is used to oxidize contaminants or waste waters

Formaldehyde

the simplest aldehyde; an important precursor to many other chemical compounds, such as polymers and polyfunctional alcohols

Formic acid

the simplest carboxylic acid; often used as a source of the hydride ion

Grignard reagents

the most common application is for alkylation of aldehydes and ketones:

Hexamethylphosphoramide

a phosphoramide; useful polar aprotic solvent and additive in organic synthesis

Hydrazine

It's a good reducing agent and is used in the Wolff-Kishner reaction for reducing carbonyls to its corresponding alkanes. used as a foaming agent in preparing polymer foams; also a precursor to polymerization catalysts and pharmaceuticals; also as an Oxygen scavenger in Power Plants

Hydrazoic acid

used primarily for preservation of stock solutions, and as a reagent

Hydrochloric acid

a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses

Hydrofluoric acid

valued source of fluorine, precursor to numerous pharmaceuticals; highly corrosive

Hydrogen peroxide

an oxidizer commonly used as a bleach

Imidazole

an organic compound; this aromatic heterocyclic is a diazole and is classified as an alkaloid

Isopropyl alcohol

simplest example of a secondary alcohol; dissolves a wide range of non-polar compounds

Lime

used in Flue Gas Desulphurisation in Power Plants

Limestone

used in Flue Gas Desulphurisation in Power Plants

Lithium aluminium hydride

a reducing agent in organic synthesis; used to prepare main group and transition metal hydrides from the corresponding metal halides

Lithium diisopropylamide

strong base used in organic chemistry for the deprotonation of weakly acidic compounds

Manganese dioxide

used as a pigment and as a precursor to other manganese compounds; used as a reagent in organic synthesis for the oxidation of allylicalcohols

Meta-Chloroperoxybenzoic acid

used as an oxidant in organic synthesis

Methyl tert-butyl ether

a gasoline additive; also used in organic chemistry as a relatively inexpensive solvent

Millon's reagent

an analytical reagent used to detect the presence of soluble proteins

Nitric acid

highly corrosive and toxic strong acid; used for the production of fertilizers, production of explosives, and as a component of aqua regia

Osmium tetroxide

in organic synthesis, is widely used to oxidise alkenes to the vicinal diols

Oxalyl chloride

used in organic synthesis for the preparation of acid chlorides from the corresponding carboxylic acids

Palladium(II) acetate

a catalyst for many organic reactions by combining with many common classes of organic compounds to form reactive adduct

Perchloric acid

a powerful oxidizing agent; readily forms explosive mixtures; mainly used in the production of rocket fuel

Phosphoric acid

a mineral acid with many industrial uses; commonly used in the laboratory preparation of hydrogen halides

Phosphorus pentachloride

one of the most important phosphorus chlorides; a chlorinating reagent. Also used as a dehydrating agent for oximes which turn them into nitriles.

Phosphorus tribromide

used for the conversion of alcohols to alkyl bromides

Phosphorus trichloride

most important of the three phosphorus chlorides; used to manufacture organophosphorus compounds; used to convert primary and secondary alcohols into alkyl chlorides, or carboxylic acids into acyl chlorides

Phosphoryl chloride

used to make phosphate esters such as tricresyl phosphate

Potassium dichromate

a common inorganic chemical reagent, most commonly used as an oxidizing agent in various laboratory and industrial applications

Potassium hydroxide

a strong base; precursor to most soft and liquid soaps as well as numerous potassium-containing chemicals

Potassium permanganate

a strong oxidizing agent; can be used to quantitatively determine the total oxidisable organic material in an aqueous sample; a reagent for the synthesis of organic compounds

Pyridinium chlorochromate

used to oxidize primary alcohols to aldehydes and secondary alcohols to ketones

Pyridinium dichromate (Cornforth reagent)

converts primary and secondary alcohols to ketones

Raney nickel

an alternative catalyst for the hydrogenation of vegetable oils; in organic synthesis, used for desulfurization

Sakaguchi's Reagent

Detects the presence of arginine

Samarium(II) iodide (Kagan Reagent)

a powerful reducing agent

Silver oxide

used to prepare other silver compounds; in organic chemistry, used as a mild oxidizing agent

Silver nitrate

precursor to many other silver compounds; commonly used in inorganic chemistry to abstract halides

Sodium amide

used in the industrial production of indigo, hydrazine, and sodium cyanide; used for the drying of ammonia; used as a strong base in organic chemistry

Sodium azide

gas-forming component in airbag systems; used in organic synthesis to introduce the azide functional group by displacement of halides

Sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide

a strong base; deprotonates ketones and esters to generate enolate derivative

Sodium borohydride

a versatile reducing agent; converts ketones and aldehydes to alcohols

Sodium chlorite

in organic synthesis, used for the oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids

Sodium hydride

a strong base used in organic synthesis

Sodium hydroxide

strong base with many industrial uses; in the laboratory, used with acids to produce the corresponding salt, also used as an electrolyte

Sodium hypochlorite

frequently used as a disinfectant or a bleaching agent

Sodium nitrite

used to convert amines into diazo compounds

Sulfuric acid

strong mineral acid; major industrial use is the production of phosphoric acid

tert-Butyl hydroperoxide

used in a variety of oxidation processes; industrially, is used as a starter of radical polymerization

Tetrahydrofuran

one of the most polar ethers; a useful solvent; its main use is as a precursor to polymers

Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0)

a catalyst for palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions

Tetramethylammonium hydroxide

a quaternary ammonium salt; used as an anisotropic etchant of silicon; used as a basic solvent in the development of acidic photoresistin the photolithography process

Tetramethylsilane

the simplest tetraorganosilane; a building block in organometallic chemistry

Thionyl chloride

an inorganic compound; used in chlorination reactions; converts carboxylic acids to acyl chlorides

Thiophenol

an organosulfur compound; the simplest aromatic thiol

Titanium tetrachloride

an intermediate in the production of titanium metal and titanium dioxide

Tollens' reagent

a chemical test most commonly used to determine whether a known carbonyl-containing compound is an aldehyde or a ketone

Triphenylphosphine

used in the synthesis of organic and organometallic compounds