Simple mathematical equations for calculating oxidation number of organic carbons, number of transferred electrons, oxidative ratio, and mole of oxygen molecule in combustion reactions

Abstract

The oxidation number and number of transferred electrons are two paramount parameters in the study of redox reactions. Their calculations are both important and challenging. The oxidation number of organic carbons is used in organic chemistry, biochemistry, and applied chemistry. Combustion reaction is a classical type of redox reaction, in which the oxygen molecule (O2) is the oxidizing agent. In this article, the integration of three sets of relations is explored by using the method of balancing organic combustion: (i) number of transferred electrons and oxidation number of organic carbons, (ii) mole of oxygen molecule and number of transferred electrons, and (iii) oxidative ratio, oxidation number of organic carbons, and number of transferred electrons. This method can also establish the relationships among the stoichiometric coefficients, mole of oxygen molecule, oxidative ratio, number of transferred electrons, and oxidation number of organic carbons. Furthermore, the oxidation number of organic carbons and the number of transferred electrons of a given organic compound can be determined by the derived mathematical equations.

Using Mean Oxidation Number of Organic Carbons to Count Theoretical Chemical Oxygen Demand

“…moles of molecular oxygen. All ON inc remain the same before and after any combustion reaction (Yuen & Lau, 2023a). Organic combustion equations can be used to calculate theoretical COD of any organic matter.…”

“…The mean oxidation number of organic carbons (ONc) of organic matter is a redox metric for environmental chemistry (Kroll et al, 2011), water treatment (Vogel et al, 2000;Li et al, 2022), organic combustion (Yuen & Lau, 2023a), and anaerobic digestion (Yuen & Lau, 2024a). Although the mathematical relationship between ONc and the ratio of COD to total organic carbon (TOC) (Vogel et al, 2000), and the relationship between ONc and nO 2 have already been established (Yuen & Lau, 2023a), the relationships among ONc, nO 2 , and theoretical COD have not been explored yet.…”

Using Buswell’s Equation to Count Quantity of Biomethane in Organochlorine Compounds

“…The H-atom method has been used to study organic combustion reactions (Yuen & Lau, 2021;2022a;2023b) and redox reactions (Yuen & Lau, 2022b). It is applied here to deduct the new general BEq of C x H y O z X w N v S u .…”

Using Mean Oxidation Number of Organic Carbons to Quantify Buswell’s Equation

“…Many students are unable to understand and manipulate the stoichiometric BEq. Although the concept of mean oxidation number of organic carbons has been applied in organic chemistry and biochemistry (Hanson, 1990;Halkides, 2000;Bentley et al, 2002;Yuen & Lau, 2022a), environmental chemistry (Kroll et al, 2011), biogeochemistry (Masiello et al, 2008;LaRowe & Van Cappellen, 2011;Dick et al, 2019), water treatment (Vogel et al, 2000), and organic combustion reaction (Yuen & Lau, 2023a), the relationship between ON C and nCH 4 has not been studied.…”