Carbon monoxide | EPFL Graph Search

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.

Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simplest carbon oxide. In coordination complexes, the carbon monoxide ligand is called carbonyl. It is a key ingredient in many processes in industrial chemistry. The most common source of carbon monoxide is the partial combustion of carbon-containing compounds. Numerous environmental and biological sources generate carbon monoxide. In industry, carbon monoxide is important in the production of many compounds, including drugs, fragrances, and fuels. Upon emission into the atmosphere, carbon monoxide affects several processes that contribute to climate change. Carbon monoxide has important biological roles across phylogenetic kingdoms. It is produced by many organisms, including humans. In mammalian physiology, carbon monoxide is a classical example of hormesis where low concentrations serve as an endogenous neurotransmitter (gasotransmitter) and high concentrations are toxic resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning. It is isoelectronic with cyanide anion CN−. Humans have maintained a complex relationship with carbon monoxide since first learning to control fire circa 800,000 BC. Early humans probably discovered the toxicity of carbon monoxide poisoning upon introducing fire into their dwellings. The early development of metallurgy and smelting technologies emerging circa 6,000 BC through the Bronze Age likewise plagued humankind from carbon monoxide exposure. Apart from the toxicity of carbon monoxide, indigenous Native Americans may have experienced the neuroactive properties of carbon monoxide through shamanistic fireside rituals. Early civilizations developed mythological tales to explain the origin of fire, such as Prometheus from Greek mythology who shared fire with humans. Aristotle (384–322 BC) first recorded that burning coals produced toxic fumes.

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 (18)

Related people (14)

Related concepts (384)

Related courses (20)

Related lectures (78)

CH-335: Asymmetric synthesis and retrosynthesis

La première partie du cours décrit les méthodes classiques de synthèse asymétrique. La seconde partie du cours traite des stratégies de rétrosynthèse basées sur l'approche par disconnection.

CH-435: Catalytic asymmetric reactions in organic chemistry

This lecture presents the development of catalytic asymmetric reactions in organic chemistry, including important current topics of research in the field.

CH-605: Inorganic Chemistry Virtual Seminar Series

The course will consist on a series of seminars from leading scientists in the broad field of Inorganic Chemistry. It will cover all areas of Inorganic Chemistry (coordination chemistry, bioinorganic

Hemoglobin and Carbon Monoxide

Explores the equilibrium between hemoglobin and oxygen, and the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chemistry of Carbon Compounds

Explores the chemistry of carbon compounds, acid-base reactions, carbon allotropes, tin allotropic forms, corrosion, and ammonia production.

Aluminium-Copper System

Explores the aluminium-copper system, extraction processes, energy aspects, and 3D printing, including the Al-Cu system, phase diagrams, and the law of the lever.

Solar reduction of carbon dioxide on copper-tin electrocatalysts with energy conversion efficiency near 20%

Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin, Jing Gao, Yuhang Liu, Dan Ren, Jun Li, Meng Xia

Solar-driven carbon dioxide reduction has witnessed a renaissance in the past decades, but the system suffers from low reaction rates. Here the authors develop a copper/tin-oxide electrocatalyst, achi

NATURE PORTFOLIO2022

, ,

Water free, non-oxidative catalytic dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde is an important process for the formation of anhydrous, molecular formaldehyde (FA). Sodium or sodium-containing salts w

2021

Synthesis, structural characterization, and coordination chemistry of imidazole-based alkylidene ketenes

Rosario Scopelliti, Kay Severin, Farzaneh Fadaei Tirani, Paul Varava, Wolfram Feuerstein

Alkylidene ketenes typically display high intrinsic reactivity, impeding isolation on a preparative scale. Herein, we report the synthesis of alkylidene ketenes by reaction of imidazole-based diazoole

2021

Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds. Oxygen is Earth's most abundant element, and after hydrogen and helium, it is the third-most abundant element in the universe. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula O2.

Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe, constituting roughly 75% of all normal matter. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. Most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water and organic compounds.