The Chemistry of Oxygen

Book excerpt: The Chemistry of Oxygen deals with the chemistry of oxygen and covers topics ranging from atoms and ions to oxides, water, and oxygen fluorides. Hydrogen peroxide, peroxides and related compounds, and ozone and related species are also discussed, along with other species containing O3 and O4 groups. This book is comprised of nine chapters and opens with a historical background on oxygen, including its discovery, as well as its properties, isotopes, occurrence and extraction, toxic effects, and production and uses. The next chapter is devoted to oxygen atoms and ions, with emphasis on the reactions of ionized species derived from oxygen atoms and molecules. The reader is then introduced to oxides and their acid-base character, structure, allotropy, thermodynamics, and geometrical effects; physical and chemical properties of water; chemical and physical properties of oxygen fluorides; and hydrogen peroxide, its properties, molecular structure, and uses. Subsequent chapters focus on peroxides and related compounds; ozone and related species; and other species containing O3 and O4 groups. This monograph will be a valuable source of information for inorganic chemists.