What molecule am I?
Hydrogen-d peroxide1 (HDO2 or HOOD) is the monodeuterated form of hydrogen peroxide2 (H2O2), the Molecule of the Week for January 26, 2007. HDO2 is difficult to isolate because it is prepared by mixing H2O2 and deuterium peroxide3 (D2O2). If equimolar amounts of the two are used, equilibration produces a 1:2:1 H2O2/HDO2/D2O2 mixture.
Most articles about HDO2 involve determining its spectra. In 1937, Franz Fehér at the Technical University of Dresden (Germany) used the 1:2:mixture to measure the Raman frequencies of HDO2. By eliminating the known frequencies of H2O2 and D2O2, he found Raman lines for HDO2 at 3407 and 1406 cm–1.
Similarly, in 1954, J. T. Massey and D. R. Bianco* at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) reported the microwave spectra of the three isotopic forms. The following year, Osias Bain and Paul A. Giguère at Laval University (Quebec) described their infrared spectra.
More recently (2022), D. Herberth* and T. F. Giesen at the University of Kassel (Germany) and K. M. T. Yamada at the University of Electro-Communications (Tokyo) used the synchrotron facility SOLEIL at Saint-Aubin, France, to examine the torsion–rotation spectrum of HDO2. They scanned the 6.3–500 cm–1 IR region to investigate the first torsional excited state of the molecule. Because of the complexity of the spectrum, they needed special software to analyze it. They assigned 3704 rotational/torsional transitions from the ground state to the first torsional state, from which they could determine accurate experimental band origins and rotational constants.
HDO2 is not an article of commerce; the fast facts and hazard information tables show the properties of H2O2.
1. CAS Reg. No. 34322-11-7.
2. CAS Reg. No. 7722-84-1.
3. CAS Reg. No. 6909-54-2.
Hydrogen peroxide (30 wt% in H2O)*
hazard information
| Hazard class** | GHS code and hazard statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Serious eye damage, category 1 | H318—Causes serious eye damage |  |
| Short-term (acute) aquatic hazard, category 2 | H401—Toxic to aquatic life | |
| Long-term (chronic) aquatic hazard, category 3 | H412—Harmful to aquatic life with long-lasting effects | |
*Article of commerce.
**Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. Explanation of pictograms.
Molecules from the Journals
Zinc hydride1 (ZnH2) is a slightly unstable inorganic molecule that was first synthesized in the 1940s by Hermann Schlesinger and co-workers at the University of Chicago. Schlesinger prepared it via the reaction of dimethylzinc2 (ZnMe2) with lithium aluminum hydride3 (LiAlH4); subsequent safer methods consisted of metathesis reactions between zinc halides and alkali metal hydrides.
Until now, ZnH2 has seldom been used as a reducing agent; but this past February, Stuart A. Macgregor, Mary F. Mahon, Michael K. Whittlesey, and collaborators at three United Kingdom universities reported its use as a precursor to catalytically active ruthenium–ZnH complexes. The researchers treated ruthenium complexes that contained N-heterocyclic, carbon monoxide, and tetrafluoroarylboron ligands with excess ZnH2 and found that the products contained Ru–H–Zn bridges. The resulting ZnH-containing complexes were catalytically active for hydride metathesis reactions with ZnMe2 and for alkene hydrogenation.
Lithium carbonate4 (Li2CO3) is an inorganic salt that has important uses in medicine for treating mood disorders and in industry as a precursor to other lithium salts used in batteries. Li2CO3 occurs in nature in brines from underground reservoirs and geothermal wells. Early mentions of it in the chemical literature were in 1870s articles by British chemist Thomas Carnelly on the measurement of melting and boiling points of metallic salts.
In March, Vanessa Schenker* and Stephan Pfister at the Swiss Federal Institution of Technology Zurich (aka ETH Zurich), recognizing that Li2CO3 is a vital commodity, published an article titled “Current and Future Impacts of Lithium Carbonate from Brines: A Global Regionalized Life Cycle Assessment Model”. The authors covered 25 brine sites that represent 300 kilotonnes (90%) of current Li2CO3 production. They found that direct lithium extraction, which uses adsorption, ion-exchange, and solvent extraction techniques, has a sevenfold lower climate-change impact than conventional methods, which are slower, consume more water, and, in general, have greater environmental impacts.
1. CAS Reg. No. 14018-82-7.
2. CAS Reg. No. 544-97-8.
3. CAS Reg. No. 16853-85-3.
4. CAS Reg. No. 554-13-2.
Molecules from the Journals
MOTW briefly describes noteworthy molecules that appeared in recent ACS journal articles. See this week's edition.
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Hydrogen peroxide
fast facts
| CAS Reg. No. | 7722-84-1 |
| SciFindern name | Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) |
| Empirical formula | H2O2 |
| Molar mass | 34.01 g/mol |
| Appearance | Colorless liquid |
| Boiling point | 152 ºC |
| Water solubility | Miscible |
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