What is the difference between oxygenation and oxidation

An oxidizing agent is substance which oxidizes something else. In the above example, the iron III oxide is the oxidizing agent.

A reducing agent reduces something else. In the equation, the carbon monoxide is the reducing agent. These are old definitions which are no longer used, except occasionally in organic chemistry.

Notice that these are exactly the opposite of the oxygen definitions 1. For example, ethanol can be oxidized to ethanal:. An oxidizing agent is required to remove the hydrogen from the ethanol.

A commonly used oxidizing agent is potassium dichromate VI solution acidified with dilute sulfuric acid. Ethanal can also be reduced back to ethanol by adding hydrogen. A possible reducing agent is sodium tetrahydridoborate, NaBH 4. Again the equation is too complicated to consider at this point. More precise definitionsof oxidizing and reducing agents are. Remembering these definitions is essential, and easily done using this convenient acronym:. The equation below shows an obvious example of oxygen transfer in a simple redox reaction:.

Copper II oxide and magnesium oxide are both ionic compounds. If the above is written as an ionic equation, it becomes apparent that the oxide ions are spectator ions. Omitting them gives:. In the above reaction, magnesium reduces the copper II ion by transferring electrons to the ion and neutralizing its charge. Therefore, magnesium is a reducing agent. Another way of putting this is that the copper II ion is removing electrons from the magnesium to create a magnesium ion.

The copper II ion is acting as an oxidizing agent. A redox reaction essentially has two parallel reactions; oxidation reactions and reduction reactions. These reactions always involve the electron transfer between two chemical species. Also, the chemical species that undergoes oxidation will always release electrons while the chemical species which undergoes reduction will always obtain those electrons. Therefore, releasing electrons makes more protons that have no electrons to neutralize their charge.

Thus, the electron removal will increase the oxidation number of the chemical species. Oxygenation is the addition of molecular oxygen to any system whereas Oxidation is the process of increasing the oxidation number of a chemical species.

Therefore, the key difference between oxygenation and oxidation is that the oxygenation essentially involves molecular oxygen whereas oxidation does not necessarily involve oxygen.

Moreover, we use the term oxygenation to refer to the addition of molecular oxygen to a chemical species such as transition metal or treating a patient with oxygen while the term oxidation refers to increase of the oxidation number of a chemical species. The below infographic tabulates the difference between oxygenation and oxidation as a side be side comparison. Both terms oxygenation and oxidation may refer to the addition of oxygen, but not always.

Moreover, the term oxidation sometimes refers to processes which occur in the complete absence of oxygen. Therefore, the key difference between oxygenation and oxidation is that the oxygenation essentially involves molecular oxygen whereas the oxidation does not necessarily involve oxygen. Nabili, Siamak N. Available here 2. Available here. With a mind rooted firmly to basic principals of chemistry and passion for ever evolving field of industrial chemistry, she is keenly interested to be a true companion for those who seek knowledge in the subject of chemistry.

Your email address will not be published. Figure A Redox Reaction.