CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

bidentate ligand    →   bidentatni ligand

Bidentate ligand is a ligand that has two "teeth" or atoms that coordinate directly to the central atom in a complex. An example of a bidentate ligand is ethylenediamine. A single molecule of ethylenediamine can form two bonds to a metal ion. The bonds form between the metal ion and the nitrogen atoms of ethylenediamine.

dienes    →   dieni

Dienes are unsaturated organic compounds that contain two fixed double bonds between carbon atoms. Dienes in which the two double-bond units are linked by one single bond are termed conjugated.

electron pair    →   elektronski par

Electron pair is two electrons within one orbital with opposite spins responsible for a chemical bond.

hydrophilic    →   hidrofilan

Hydrophilic is having a strong tendency to bind or absorb water, which results in swelling and formation of reversible gels. This property is characteristic of carbohydrates.

ice    →   led

Ice is a solid form of water. Water expands when it freezes due to hydrogen bonds thus making ice less density than water so it floats on it.

borane    →   borani

Borane is any of the group of compounds of boron and hydrogen (B₂H₆, B₄H₁₀, B₅H₉, B₅H₁₁...), many of which can be prepared by action of acid on magnesium boride (Mg₃B₂). Boranes are a remarkable group of compounds in that their structures cannot be described using the conventional two-electron covalent bond model.

branched chain    →   razgranati lanac

Branched chain is an open chain of atoms with one or more side chains attached to it.

carbohydrate    →   ugljikohidrat

Carbohydrates (often called carbs for short) are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones, or substances that yield such compounds on hydrolysis. They are also known as saccharides, a term derived from the Latin word saccharum for sugar. Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of compounds in the biological world, making up more than 50 % of the dry weight of the Earth’s biomass. Every type of food we eat can have its energy traced back to a plant. Plants use carbon dioxide and water to make glucose, a simple sugar, in photosynthesis. Other carbohydrates such as cellulose and starch are made from the glucose. Light from the sun is absorbed by chlorophyll and this is converted to the energy necessary to biosynthesize carbohydrates

The term carbohydrate was applied originally to monosaccharides, in recognition of the fact that their empirical composition can be expressed as C_x(H₂O)_y. Later structural studies revealed that these compounds were not hydrates but the term carbohydrate persists.

Carbohydrates are generally classed as either simple or complex. Simple sugars, or monosaccharides, are carbohydrates that can’t be converted into smaller subunits by hydrolysis. Complex carbohydrates are made of two (disaccharides) or more (oligosaccharides, polysaccharides) simple sugars linked together by acetal (glycosidic) bonds and can be split into the former by hydrolysis.

isomer    →   izomer

Isomers are compounds that have identical molecular formulae but differ in the nature or sequence of bonding of their atoms (structural isomerism) or in the arrangement of their atoms in space (stereoisomerism).

Lewis acid    →   Lewisova kiselina

Lewis acid is an agent capable of accepting a pair of electrons to form a coordinate bond.