ARTICLES OF FAITH: A FRONTLINE HISTORY OF THE ABORTION WARS.By Cynthia Gorney.Simon & Schuster; 575 pages; $27.50CONSIDER the following list: hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate corrosive tablets, kerosene and vinegar, curtain rod, garden hose, glass cocktail stirrer, telephone wire, knitting needle, chopsticks and football pump.
The most common oxidizing agents are halogens such as fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2), and bromine (Br2)—and certain oxy anions, such as the permanganate ion (MnO4−) and the dichromate ion (Cr2O72−).
Thus, potassium permanganate reacting by double decomposition has an equivalent weight equal to its gram molecular weight, 158.038/1 g; as an oxidizing agent under different circumstances it may be reduced to the manganate ion (MnO42-), to manganese dioxide (MnO2), or to the manganous ion (Mn2+), with the equivalent weights of 158.038/1 g, 158.038/3 g, and 158.038/5 g, respectively.
Alkenes may be converted to diols (dialcohols) by oxidizing agents such as potassium permanganate (KMnO4).
These volatile impurities may be removed by bubbling the mixture of gases through a solution of a strong oxidizing agent, such as potassium permanganate.
Oxidation of a secondary alcohol to a ketone can be accomplished by many oxidizing agents, most often chromic acid (H2CrO4), pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC), potassium permanganate (KMnO4), or manganese dioxide (MnO2).
That state occurs only in the oxo species permanganate (MnO4−), dimanganese heptoxide (Mn2O7), and manganese trioxide fluoride (MnO3F), which show some similarity to corresponding compounds of the halogens for example, in the instability of the oxide.
The deep-purple compound potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is used for disinfecting, deodorizing, and bleaching and as an analytical reagent.
Vicinal diols, compounds with −OH groups on adjacent carbons, are formed when alkenes react with certain oxidizing agents, especially potassium permanganate (KMnO4) or osmium tetroxide (OsO4).
