reducing agent

The concept of reducing agent It is used in the field of chemistry, within the framework of reduction-oxidation reactions (also known as redox reactions). In these reactions, the reducing agent releases electrons that are accepted by the oxidizing agent. Said transfer implies a change in the oxidation state.

It can be said that these reduction-oxidation reactions carry two-half-reactions. On the one hand, the reducing agent loses electrons and it rusts; on the other, the oxidizing agent adds electrons and is reduced.

Summarizing the development of redox reactions, we can say that the reducing agent gives up electrons and increases their number of oxidation: that is, it rusts. The oxidizing agent, on the other hand, adds electrons and reduces its oxidation number (reduces).

Suppose there is a reaction between chlorine Y calcium. In this case, calcium acts as a reducing agent since it releases electrons and their oxidation number increases from 0 to two. Chlorine, on the other hand, acts as an oxidizing agent (adds electrons).

It is important to note that reduction and oxidation always take place simultaneously. Each time a reducing agent acts on a reaction, there is also an oxidizing agent. The reducing agent is one that oxidizes in the reaction and contributes electrons.

The hydrogen, for example, is a frequently used reducing agent. It is possible to obtain metal copper in a reaction where hydrogen oxidizes and releases electrons.

Let's see a list of other of the most used reducing agents, to appreciate more clearly the different applications they can have:

* carbon monoxide- Used in metallurgy to reduce metal oxides. The temperature used to reduce ore in the blast furnace (the fabricated structure to melt and reduce iron ores for future smelting processing) amounts to approximately 900 ° C

* aluminum: since it is a chemical element (more precisely, a non-ferromagnetic metal) with a high chemical affinity with oxygen, metallurgy uses it as a reducing agent, and also to obtain those metals that are especially difficult to reduce, such as lithium and calcium, among others, through process known by the name of aluminothermic;

* charcoal: their hydrocarbon derivatives are also reducing agents, among which are propane, butane, methane and gasoline, as well as organic compounds such as carbohydrates and fats. In the combustion of glucose, for example, which takes place in our own cells, a reaction occurs in which carbon acts as a reducing agent by changing its oxidation state;

* no oxidizable metals: in this category are phosphorus and sulfur;

* materials containing cellulose: here we can mention paper, wood and fabrics;

* alkali metals: although a large part of metals can be considered reducing agents, as occurs with iron when it is oxidized by oxygen, the alkali metals stand out for their special action in this context. Some examples are lithium, rubidium, potassium, and sodium;

* sugars: they go through combustion when oxygen oxidizes them at a certain temperature;

* formic acid: also known as methanoic acid, it is an organic acid that has only one atom carbon, which is why it is considered the simplest of its group;

* hydrides: they are binary compounds that result from the union of a chemical element (such as a metal or a non-metal) and hydrogen atoms. It is worth mentioning that in its composition there can be no Noble gases.

During the photosynthesis and in the revealed of printed photographs, among others processes, reducing agents are also involved.