Industrial Chemistry Fundamentals
Getting to grips with industrial chemistry starts with understanding how raw materials become useful products. Feedstock serves as the raw material that powers industrial processes, whilst sustainability measures whether these processes can be maintained long-term without harming the environment.
Yield tells you how much product you actually get from a reaction, but percentage yield is more useful - it compares your actual results to the theoretical maximum. When reactions don't go perfectly to plan, you often get side products from unwanted side reactions.
Two crucial concepts for evaluating industrial processes are atom economy (measuring what percentage of reactants become useful products) and whether products are biodegradable. Remember, prevention is always better than cure when it comes to environmental issues.
Alcohols are organic compounds containing a hydroxyl group . Primary alcohols have the -OH group attached to a carbon with at least two hydrogens, typically at the end of a molecule chain. Secondary alcohols have the -OH attached to a carbon with just one hydrogen atom.
Quick Tip: To identify alcohol types, count the hydrogens on the carbon bearing the -OH group - two or more means primary, one means secondary!
