IUPAC

The objective of this project is to obtain a comprehensive definition of the term “oxidation state” for an atom in a molecular entity or extended structure, and to suggest an algorithm to evaluate its numerical value in an unambiguous manner. A glossary of terms related to oxidation and reduction will be created.

Based on postulated oxidation states for oxygen and hydrogen and on the term oxidation per se, the definition of the oxidation state in the IUPAC Gold book is narrow and circular. It treats hydrides and O−O compounds as exceptions and is not applicable to clusters, Zintl phases and some organometallic complexes. A further deficiency has been identified by E. Vitz in J. Chem. Ed. 79 (2002) 397; the term oxidation state is based on terms oxidation and reduction, which in turn are defined as an actual removal and addition of electrons. Because the latter is not always the case, a remedy is suggested in making the oxidation state a primary term and relating the definitions of oxidation and reduction to it.

This project will review and evaluate the current definitions of oxidation state in textbooks, teaching pamphlets, and articles with a view to determining how they serve as a primary definition in redox chemistry. These electron-counting schemes will be scrutinized for universality on chemical entities, such as uncharged and charged atoms and molecules (simple or cluster-like, ions or radicals), as well as extended structures, in order to see whether or not a simple algorithm is applicable and actually implied by the definition. Such a defined oxidation state will then be used to create a glossary of related, more specialized terms.

A preprint will be circulated to a list of inorganic chemists before being submitted as Recommendation for Pure and Applied Chemistry. The relevant definitions in the IUPAC Gold Book web site will be updated.

> project announcement published in Chem. Int. May-June 2009

last update 20090522