Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Reagent
Summary
In chemistry, a reagent (riˈeɪdʒənt ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a substance consumed in the course of a chemical reaction. Solvents, though involved in the reaction mechanism, are usually not called reactants. Similarly, catalysts are not consumed by the reaction, so they are not reactants. In biochemistry, especially in connection with enzyme-catalyzed reactions, the reactants are commonly called substrates.
In organic chemistry, the term "reagent" denotes a chemical ingredient (a compound or mixture, typically of inorganic or small organic molecules) introduced to cause the desired transformation of an organic substance. Examples include the Collins reagent, Fenton's reagent, and Grignard reagents.
In analytical chemistry, a reagent is a compound or mixture used to detect the presence or absence of another substance, e.g. by a color change, or to measure the concentration of a substance, e.g. by colorimetry. Examples include Fehling's reagent, Millon's reagent, and Tollens' reagent.
In commercial or laboratory preparations, reagent-grade designates chemical substances meeting standards of purity that ensure the scientific precision and reliability of chemical analysis, chemical reactions or physical testing. Purity standards for reagents are set by organizations such as ASTM International or the American Chemical Society. For instance, reagent-quality water must have very low levels of impurities such as sodium and chloride ions, silica, and bacteria, as well as a very high electrical resistivity. Laboratory products which are less pure, but still useful and economical for undemanding work, may be designated as technical, practical, or crude grade to distinguish them from reagent versions.
In the field of biology, the biotechnology revolution in the 1980s grew from the development of reagents that could be used to identify and manipulate the chemical matter in and on cells.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related publications (30)
Azide-Containing Hypervalent Iodine Reagents for Biomolecules Functionalization
Raphaël Michel Henri Simonet-Davin
The goal of my PhD was the development of a new method for unselective surface labeling, not substrate-specific, that would give access to direct visualization of any surface interactions.In order to
EPFL2022Related people (7)
Related units (1)
Related concepts (44)
Substrate (chemistry)
In chemistry, the term substrate is highly context-dependent. Broadly speaking, it can refer either to a chemical species being observed in a chemical reaction, or to a surface on which other chemical reactions or microscopy are performed. In the former sense, a reagent is added to the substrate to generate a product through a chemical reaction. The term is used in a similar sense in synthetic and organic chemistry, where the substrate is the chemical of interest that is being modified.
Reaction mechanism
In chemistry, a reaction mechanism is the step by step sequence of elementary reactions by which overall chemical reaction occurs. A chemical mechanism is a theoretical conjecture that tries to describe in detail what takes place at each stage of an overall chemical reaction. The detailed steps of a reaction are not observable in most cases. The conjectured mechanism is chosen because it is thermodynamically feasible and has experimental support in isolated intermediates (see next section) or other quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the reaction.
Product (chemistry)
Products are the species formed from chemical reactions. During a chemical reaction, reactants are transformed into products after passing through a high energy transition state. This process results in the consumption of the reactants. It can be a spontaneous reaction or mediated by catalysts which lower the energy of the transition state, and by solvents which provide the chemical environment necessary for the reaction to take place. When represented in chemical equations, products are by convention drawn on the right-hand side, even in the case of reversible reactions.
Related courses (24)
ChE-403: Heterogenous reaction engineering
The theoretical background and practical aspects of heterogeneous reactions including the basic knowledge of heterogeneous catalysis are introduced. The fundamentals are given to allow for the use of
ChE-201: Introduction to chemical engineering
Introduction to Chemical Engineering is an introductory course that provides a basic overview of the chemical engineering field. It addresses the formulation and solution of material and energy balanc
CH-160(b): General chemistry
Cet enseignement vise l'acquisition des notions essentielles relatives à la structure de la matière, aux équilibres et à la réactivité chimiques. Le cours et les exercices fournissent la méthodologie
Related lectures (144)
Introduction to Bio-Pharma: Laboratory Techniques
Covers laboratory techniques in bio-pharma, focusing on safety practices and chemical analysis.
Chemical Reactions: Conversion and Energy Balances
Explores chemical reactions, conversion, and energy balances in different compounds at varying temperatures.
Synthesis Strategies: Tamiflu
Covers the synthesis strategies for the active ingredient of Tamiflu, focusing on retrosynthesis and regioselective openings.