CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

bitumen    →   bitumen

Bitumen is the final residue from petroleum fractional distillation, black tar containing free carbon.

butane    →   butan

Butane is a gaseous hydrocarbon C₄H₁₀ obtained from petroleum (refinery gas or by cracking higher hydrocarbons). The fourth member of the alkane series, it has a straight chain of carbon atoms and is isomeric with 2-methylpropane, formerly called isobutene. It can easily be liquefied under pressure and is supplied into cylinders for use as a fuel gas. It is also a raw material for making buta-1, 3-diene for synthetic rubber.

catalytic hydrogenation    →   katalitičko hidrogeniranje

Catalytic hydrogenation is the infusing of unsaturated or impure hydrocarbons with hydrogen gas at controlled temperatures and pressures and in the presence of a catalyst for the purpose of obtaining saturated hydrocarbons and/or removing various impurities such as sulphur and nitrogen.

cycloalkanes    →   cikloalkani

Cycloalkanes are cyclic saturated hydrocarbons containing a ring of carbon atoms joined by single bonds. They have the general formula C_nH_2n, for example cyclohexane, C₆H₁₂. In general, they behave like the alkanes but are rather less reactive.

asparagine    →   asparagin

Asparagine is neutral amino acids with polar side chains. The polar amino acids are an important class of amino acids since they provide many of the functional groups found in proteins. Asparagine is a common site for attachment of carbohydrates in glycoproteins. In general this is not very reactive residues. Asparagine is amide derivative of aspartic acid. Asparagine is not essential for humans, which means that it can be synthesized from central metabolic pathway intermediates and is not required in the diet.

• Abbreviations: Asn, N
• IUPAC name: 2,4-diamino-4-oxobutanoic acid
• Molecular formula: C₄H₈N₂O₃
• Molecular weight: 132.12 g/mol

benzene    →   benzen

Benzene is a colourless liquid hydrocarbon, C₆H₆, b.p. 80 °C. It is now made from petroleum by catalytic reforming (formerly obtained from coal tar). Benzene is the archetypal aromatic compound. It has an unsaturated molecule, yet will not readily undergo addition reactions. On the other hand, it does undergo substitution reactions in which hydrogen atoms are replaced by other atoms or groups.

In 1865, Friedrich August Kekulé purposed the benzene molecule structure as a hexagonal ring which consists of six carbon atoms with alternate carbon-carbon single and carbon-carbon double bond. But such a structure should be highly reactive, and so didn't account for the unreactive nature of benzene. We now know that the best representation for the structure of benzene is indeed, hexagonal, with each C-C bond distance being identical and intermediate between those for a single and double bond. The π-orbitals from each neighbouring carbon atom overlap to form a delocalised molecular orbital which extends around the ring, giving added stability and with it, decreased reactivity. That is the reason the structural formula of benzene represents as a hexagon with a circle in the center which represents the delocalized electrons.

dehydrogenation    →   dehidrogenacija

Dehydrogenation is a chemical reaction in which hydrogen is removed from a compound. Dehydrogenation of organic compounds converts single carbon-carbon bonds into double bonds. It is usually affected by means of a metal catalyst or in biological systems by enzyme dehydrogenases.

catalytic cracking    →   katalitčko krekiranje

Catalytic cracking is a petroleum refining process in which heavy-molecular weight hydrocarbons are broken up into light hydrocarbon molecules by the application of heat and pressure in the presence of a catalyst.

cetane number    →   cetanski broj

Cetane number is a measure of the ignition quality of diesel fuel. It denotes the volume fraction of cetane (C₁₆H₃₄) in a combustible mixture (containing cetane and 1-methylnapthalene) whose ignition characteristics match those of the diesel fuel being tested. Cetane is a collection of un-branched open chain alkane molecule that ignites very easily under compression, so it was assigned a cetane number of 100, while alpha-methyl naphthalene was assigned a cetane number of 0.

cracking    →   krekiranje

Cracking is the process whereby heavy molecules of petroleum or crude oil are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular weight (especially in the oil-refining process).