Oxidation and Reduction
Inorganic Redox Reactions
The Activity Series
Assigning Oxidation Numbers
•
•
•
•
0 for elements
+1 for Group 1
+2 for Group 2
-1 for Group 7
monatomic anions
• +1 for Hydrogen (-1 in
metal hydrides)
• -2 for Oxygen (-1 in
peroxides)
Redox Balancing: Half-Reactions
Redox Balancing: O & H in Acid
Redox Balancing: O & H in Base
Carbon Oxidation Numbers
in Organic Molecules
• Each bond to another
carbon has no effect
• Oxidation number
decreased by one for
each bond to Hydrogen
• Oxidation number
increased by one for
each heteroatom bond
(sigma and pi bonds)
Carbon Oxidation Numbers
in Organic Molecules
Oxidation Level
for Organic molecules
Oxidations and Reductions
in Organic Chemistry
Oxidations and Reductions
in Organic Chemistry
Conclusions
• For inorganic species, assign oxidation
numbers to every atom
• For organic molecules, add total heteroatoms
to total degrees of unsaturation
• Increasing oxidation number or oxidation level
represents an oxidation
• Decreasing oxidation number or oxidation
level represents a reduction