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Why do thiols have such a propensity for bonding with mercury?
Historically, thiols $\ce{-SH}$ were known as "mercapto-" due to their strong propensity to bond with mercury. Certain drugs still carry this designation, though mercaptopurine has an $\ce{=S}$ group instead of a thiol.
What makes the thiol group…
jonsca
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3 answers
How to identify zero order reactions?
I have come across many reactions that are zero order reactions but at one glance I'm unable to tell if they are zero order or not. Is there any criteria that can be used to identify these reactions or are they purely experimentally determined?
Ashu
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What is the IUPAC nomenclature of alkane with large numbers of C atoms (more than 200)?
What is the IUPAC nomenclature for alkanes with large numbers of $\ce{C}$ atoms (more than 200)? For example, what is the IUPAC accepted name for $\ce{C_{205}H_{412}}$?
lambda23
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Will gaseous ionic compounds be free moving ions?
I knew while learning about electrolysis that if the ionic compound is molten it becomes free moving ions.
If that is the case, what will happen if I continued heating till it reaches the boiling point so that the ionic compound evaporates?
Will it…
Abdelrahman Esmat
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4 answers
How do I type a simple chemical equation in Microsoft Word?
How do I type a simple chemical equation in Microsoft Word? I can do subscripts, but long arrows are more difficult. I can't get them to align with the text.
Also, I can't figure out how to put a delta above the arrow for heat. I have tried the…
Sualeh Fatehi
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Does chemistry need machine learning?
In many fields of science (e.g. biology, medicine, psychology, statistics, physics), machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques are becoming more and more popular to analyze data. Is it also so in chemistry?
tag
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Why are smoke odors persistent in fabrics?
Obviously smoke is very complex, but apparently phenol compounds are the main components of wood smoke that produce the characteristic odor. (One of more significant of these compounds seems to be syringol.) The human nose seems to be pretty…
RobertShaw
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Why is dU an exact differential and dq an inexact differential?
dU, dG, dH etc are all exact differentials and the variables themselves are known as state functions because they only depend on the state of the system. However, dq and dw for example, are inexact differentials. My questions is, what does this…
RobChem
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Hypothetical: What happens to water as pressure increases to infinity?
I've asked a similar question here but the answer given shows the behaviour of water under general conditions.
I'd like to know what the behaviour of water is like as pressures increase towards infinity without being able to escape it's…
irth
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What should be the oxidation state of oxygen in HOF (hypofluorous acid)?
What should be the oxidation state of oxygen in $\ce{HOF}$ (hypofluorous acid)?
Sources on the internet have confused me. Most state its oxidation state to be 0, while the others state that it is -2 (considering the oxidation state of fluorine to…
Saharsh
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The acidity of boric acid
The “real way” boric acid behaves as an acid in water is first by acting as a Lewis acid (bottom reaction, in black). In fairness to the undergrads, I’d bet >25% of graduate students around the country would not be able to correctly explain the…
Dissenter
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Will alcohol or soap damage plastic or rubber?
I have read conflicting advice on various sites about the appropriate methods for cleaning plastic and rubber items and would like to ask people who actually know what's going on what they would recommend.
I realize some of my assumptions may be…
iconoclast
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Why are vinylic and arylic carbocations highly unstable?
I have checked the internet and read quite a few books, but I still am not able to understand why vinylic and arylic carbocations are highly unstable.
What I found while surfing the internet is: For arylic carbocation, the carbon bearing postive…
user34304
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Is sodium chloride really odourless? If yes, what do I smell?
I just had to read some general descriptions of sodium chloride and it was always classified as odourless (e.g., by Wikipedia). However, large amounts of table salts (around 1 kg) have a clearly perceptible odour to me. By table salt I mean salt…
Wrzlprmft
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Thermodynamic stability of meta-xylene over ortho- and para-isomers
When talking about the example of the alkylation of toluene by chloromethane in the presence of $\ce{AlCl3}$, Hepworth, Waring and Waring (2002) mentioned that:
At room temperature, a mixture of 1,2-dimethylbenzene and 1,4-dimethylbenzene results,…
Tan Yong Boon
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