Carbon Monoxide
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Carbon monoxide (
chemical formula A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...
CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
atom and one
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simplest carbon oxide. In
coordination complex A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...
es, the carbon monoxide
ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...
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 Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. 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. Indoors CO is one of the most acutely toxic contaminants affecting indoor air quality. CO may be emitted from tobacco smoke and generated from malfunctioning fuel-burning stoves (wood, kerosene, natural gas, propane) and fuel-burning heating systems (wood, oil, natural gas) and from blocked flues connected to these appliances. Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries. 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 A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a Chemical synapse, synapse. The cell receiving the signal, or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell. Neurotra ...
( gasotransmitter) and high concentrations are toxic, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning. It is isoelectronic with both cyanide anion and molecular
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
.


Physical and chemical properties

Carbon monoxide is the simplest oxocarbon and is isoelectronic with other triply bonded
diatomic Diatomic molecules () are molecules composed of only two atoms, of the same or different chemical elements. If a diatomic molecule consists of two atoms of the same element, such as hydrogen () or oxygen (), then it is said to be homonuclear mol ...
species possessing 10 valence electrons, including the cyanide anion, the nitrosonium cation, boron monofluoride and molecular
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
. It has a
molar mass In chemistry, the molar mass () (sometimes called molecular weight or formula weight, but see related quantities for usage) of a chemical substance ( element or compound) is defined as the ratio between the mass () and the amount of substance ...
of 28.0, which, according to the
ideal gas law The ideal gas law, also called the general gas equation, is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation of the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations. It was first stat ...
, makes it slightly less dense than air, whose average molar mass is 28.8. The carbon and oxygen are connected by a triple bond that consists of a net two
pi bond In chemistry, pi bonds (π bonds) are covalent chemical bonds, in each of which two lobes of an orbital on one atom overlap with two lobes of an orbital on another atom, and in which this overlap occurs laterally. Each of these atomic orbital ...
s and one
sigma bond In chemistry, sigma bonds (σ bonds) or sigma overlap are the strongest type of covalent chemical bond. They are formed by head-on overlapping between atomic orbitals along the internuclear axis. Sigma bonding is most simply defined for diat ...
. The
bond length In molecular geometry, bond length or bond distance is defined as the average distance between Atomic nucleus, nuclei of two chemical bond, bonded atoms in a molecule. It is a Transferability (chemistry), transferable property of a bond between at ...
between the carbon atom and the oxygen atom is 112.8  pm. This bond length is consistent with a triple bond, as in molecular nitrogen (), which has a similar bond length (109.76 pm) and nearly the same
molecular mass The molecular mass () is the mass of a given molecule, often expressed in units of daltons (Da). Different molecules of the same compound may have different molecular masses because they contain different isotopes of an element. The derived quan ...
. Carbon–oxygen double bonds are significantly longer, 120.8 pm in formaldehyde, for example. The boiling point (82 K) and melting point (68 K) are very similar to those of (77 K and 63 K, respectively). The bond-dissociation energy of 1072 kJ/mol is stronger than that of (942 kJ/mol) and represents the strongest chemical bond known. The ground electronic state of carbon monoxide is a
singlet state In quantum mechanics, a singlet state usually refers to a system in which all electrons are paired. The term 'singlet' originally meant a linked set of particles whose net angular momentum is zero, that is, whose overall spin quantum number s=0. A ...
since there are no unpaired electrons.


Bonding and dipole moment

The strength of the bond in carbon monoxide is indicated by the high frequency of its vibration, 2143 cm−1. For comparison, organic carbonyls such as ketones and esters absorb at around 1700 cm−1. Carbon and oxygen together have a total of 10
electrons The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
in the valence shell. Following the octet rule for both carbon and oxygen, the two atoms form a triple bond, with six shared electrons in three bonding molecular orbitals, rather than the usual double bond found in organic carbonyl compounds. Since four of the shared electrons come from the oxygen atom and only two from carbon, one bonding orbital is occupied by two electrons from oxygen, forming a dative or dipolar bond. This causes a C←O polarization of the molecule, with a small negative charge on carbon and a small positive charge on oxygen. The other two bonding orbitals are each occupied by one electron from carbon and one from oxygen, forming (polar) covalent bonds with a reverse C→O polarization since oxygen is more electronegative than carbon. In the free carbon monoxide molecule, a net negative charge δ remains at the carbon end and the molecule has a small dipole moment of 0.122  D. The molecule is therefore asymmetric: oxygen is more electron dense than carbon and is also slightly positively charged compared to carbon being negative. Carbon monoxide has a computed fractional bond order of 2.6, indicating that the "third" bond is important but constitutes somewhat less than a full bond. Thus, in valence bond terms, is the most important structure, while :C=O is non-octet, but has a neutral formal charge on each atom and represents the second most important resonance contributor. Because of the lone pair and divalence of carbon in this resonance structure, carbon monoxide is often considered to be an extraordinarily stabilized carbene.
Isocyanide An isocyanide (also called isonitrile or carbylamine) is an organic compound with the functional group –. It is the isomer of the related nitrile (–C≡N), hence the prefix is ''isocyano''.IUPAC Goldboo''isocyanides''/ref> The organic fragme ...
s are compounds in which the O is replaced by an NR (R = alkyl or aryl) group and have a similar bonding scheme. If carbon monoxide acts as a
ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...
, the polarity of the dipole may reverse with a net negative charge on the oxygen end, depending on the structure of the
coordination complex A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...
. See also the section '' "Coordination chemistry"'' below.


Bond polarity and oxidation state

Theoretical and experimental studies show that, despite the greater electronegativity of oxygen, the dipole moment points from the more-negative carbon end to the more-positive oxygen end. The three bonds are in fact polar covalent bonds that are strongly polarized. The calculated polarization toward the oxygen atom is 71% for the σ-bond and 77% for both π-bonds. The oxidation state of carbon in carbon monoxide is +2 in each of these structures. It is calculated by counting all the bonding electrons as belonging to the more electronegative oxygen. Only the two non-bonding electrons on carbon are assigned to carbon. In this count, carbon then has only two valence electrons in the molecule compared to four in the free atom.


Occurrence

Carbon monoxide occurs in many environments, usually in trace levels. Photochemical degradation of plant matter, for example, generates an estimated 60 million tons/year. Typical concentrations in parts per million are as follows:


Atmospheric presence

Carbon monoxide (CO) is present in small amounts (about 80 ppb) in the Earth's atmosphere. Most of the rest comes from chemical reactions with
organic compound Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...
s emitted by human activities and natural origins due to photochemical reactions in the
troposphere The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere of Earth. It contains 80% of the total mass of the Atmosphere, planetary atmosphere and 99% of the total mass of water vapor and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. From the ...
that generate about 5 × 1012 kilograms per year. Other natural sources of CO include volcanoes,
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
and bushfires, and other miscellaneous forms of combustion such as fossil fuels. Small amounts are also emitted from the ocean, and from geological activity because carbon monoxide occurs dissolved in molten volcanic rock at high pressures in the Earth's mantle. Because natural sources of carbon monoxide vary from year to year, it is difficult to accurately measure natural emissions of the gas. Carbon monoxide has an indirect effect on radiative forcing by elevating concentrations of direct greenhouse gases, including
methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
and tropospheric
ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...
. CO can react chemically with other atmospheric constituents (primarily the hydroxyl radical, OH) that would otherwise destroy methane. Through natural processes in the atmosphere, it is oxidized to
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
and ozone. Carbon monoxide is short-lived in the atmosphere (with an average lifetime of about one to two months), and spatially variable in concentration. Due to its long lifetime in the mid-troposphere, carbon monoxide is also used as a tracer for pollutant plumes.


Astronomy

Beyond Earth, carbon monoxide is the second-most common diatomic molecule in the interstellar medium, after
molecular hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
. Because of its asymmetry, this polar molecule produces far brighter spectral lines than the hydrogen molecule, making CO much easier to detect. Interstellar CO was first detected with
radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...
s in 1970. It is now the most commonly used tracer of molecular gas in general in the interstellar medium of galaxies, as molecular hydrogen can only be detected using ultraviolet light, which requires space telescopes. Carbon monoxide observations provide much of the information about the
molecular cloud A molecular cloud—sometimes called a stellar nursery if star formation is occurring within—is a type of interstellar cloud of which the density and size permit absorption nebulae, the formation of molecules (most commonly molecular hydrogen, ...
s in which most stars form. Beta Pictoris, the second brightest star in the constellation Pictor, shows an excess of infrared emission compared to normal stars of its type, which is caused by large quantities of dust and gas (including carbon monoxide) near the star. In the atmosphere of Venus carbon monoxide occurs as a result of the photodissociation of carbon dioxide by electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths shorter than 169 nm. It has also been identified spectroscopically on the surface of Neptune's moon Triton. Solid carbon monoxide is a component of
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
s. The volatile or "ice" component of
Halley's Comet Halley's Comet is the only known List of periodic comets, short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after ...
is about 15% CO. At room temperature and at atmospheric pressure, carbon monoxide is actually only metastable (see Boudouard reaction) and the same is true at low temperatures where CO and are solid, but nevertheless it can exist for billions of years in comets. There is very little CO in the atmosphere of
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
, which seems to have been formed from comets. This may be because there is (or was) liquid water inside Pluto. Carbon monoxide can react with water to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen: : This is called the water-gas shift reaction when occurring in the gas phase, but it can also take place (very slowly) in an aqueous solution. If the hydrogen partial pressure is high enough (for instance in an underground sea), formic acid will be formed: : These reactions can take place in a few million years even at temperatures such as found on Pluto.


Pollution and health effects


Urban pollution

Carbon monoxide is a temporary atmospheric pollutant in some urban areas, chiefly from the exhaust of
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
s (including vehicles, portable and back-up generators, lawnmowers, power washers, etc.), but also from incomplete combustion of various other fuels (including wood, coal, charcoal, oil, paraffin, propane, natural gas, and trash). Large CO pollution events can be observed from space over cities.


Role in ground level ozone formation

Carbon monoxide is, along with aldehydes, part of the series of cycles of chemical reactions that form photochemical smog. It reacts with hydroxyl radical (OH) to produce a radical intermediate HOCO, which rapidly transfers its radical hydrogen to to form peroxy radical () and carbon dioxide (). Peroxy radical subsequently reacts with nitrogen oxide (NO) to form nitrogen dioxide () and hydroxyl radical. gives O(3P) via photolysis, thereby forming following reaction with . Since hydroxyl radical is formed during the formation of , the balance of the sequence of chemical reactions starting with carbon monoxide and leading to the formation of ozone is: : (where hν refers to the
photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
of light absorbed by the molecule in the sequence) Although the creation of is the critical step leading to low level
ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...
formation, it also increases this ozone in another, somewhat mutually exclusive way, by reducing the quantity of NO that is available to react with ozone.


Indoor air pollution

Carbon monoxide is one of the most acutely toxic indoor air contaminants. Carbon monoxide may be emitted from tobacco smoke and generated from malfunctioning fuel burning stoves (wood, kerosene, natural gas, propane) and fuel burning heating systems (wood, oil, natural gas) and from blocked flues connected to these appliances. In developed countries the main sources of indoor CO emission come from cooking and heating devices that burn fossil fuels and are faulty, incorrectly installed or poorly maintained. Appliance malfunction may be due to faulty installation or lack of maintenance and proper use. In low- and middle-income countries the most common sources of CO in homes are burning biomass fuels and cigarette smoke.


Mining

Miners refer to carbon monoxide as " whitedamp" or the "silent killer". It can be found in confined areas of poor ventilation in both surface mines and underground mines. The most common sources of carbon monoxide in mining operations are the internal combustion engine and explosives; however, in coal mines, carbon monoxide can also be found due to the low-temperature oxidation of coal. The idiom " Canary in the coal mine" pertained to an early warning of a carbon monoxide presence.


Health effects

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries. Acute exposure can also lead to long-term neurological effects such as cognitive and behavioural changes. Severe CO poisoning may lead to unconsciousness, coma and death. Chronic exposure to low concentrations of carbon monoxide may lead to lethargy, headaches, nausea, flu-like symptoms and neuropsychological and cardiovascular issues.


Chemistry

Carbon monoxide has a wide range of functions across all disciplines of chemistry. The four premier categories of reactivity involve metal-carbonyl catalysis, radical chemistry, cation and anion chemistries.


Coordination chemistry

Most metals form
coordination complex A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...
es containing covalently attached carbon monoxide. These derivatives, which are called metal carbonyls, tend to be more robust when the metal is in lower oxidation states. For example iron pentacarbonyl () is an air-stable, distillable liquid. Nickel carbonyl is a metal carbonyl complex that forms by the direct combination of carbon monoxide with the metal: : (1 bar, 55 °C) These volatile complexes are often highly toxic. Some metal–CO complexes are prepared by decarbonylation of organic solvents, not from CO. For instance, iridium trichloride and triphenylphosphine react in boiling 2-methoxyethanol or DMF to afford . As a ligand, CO binds through carbon, forming a kind of triple bond. The lone pair on the carbon atom donates electron density to form a M-CO
sigma bond In chemistry, sigma bonds (σ bonds) or sigma overlap are the strongest type of covalent chemical bond. They are formed by head-on overlapping between atomic orbitals along the internuclear axis. Sigma bonding is most simply defined for diat ...
. The two π* orbitals on CO bind to filled metal orbitals. The effect is related to the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model. The effects of the quasi-triple M-C bond is reflected in the infrared spectrum of these complexes. Whereas free CO vibrates at 2143 cm−1, its complexes tend to absorb near 1950 cm−1.


Organic and main group chemistry

In the presence of strong acids, alkenes react with
carboxylic acids In organic chemistry, a carboxylic acid is an organic acid that contains a carboxyl group () attached to an Substituent, R-group. The general formula of a carboxylic acid is often written as or , sometimes as with R referring to an organyl ...
. Hydrolysis of this species (an acylium ion) gives the carboxylic acid, a net process known as the Koch–Haaf reaction. In the Gattermann–Koch reaction, arenes are converted to benzaldehyde derivatives in the presence of CO, , and HCl. A mixture of hydrogen gas and CO reacts with alkenes to give aldehydes. The process requires the presence of metal catalysts. With main group reagents, CO undergoes several noteworthy reactions. Chlorination of CO is the industrial route to the important compound phosgene. With borane CO forms the adduct , which is isoelectronic with the acylium cation . CO reacts with
sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...
to give products resulting from C−C coupling such as sodium acetylenediolate . It reacts with molten
potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
to give a mixture of an organometallic compound, potassium acetylenediolate , potassium benzenehexolate , and potassium rhodizonate . The compounds cyclohexanehexone or triquinoyl () and cyclopentanepentone or leuconic acid (), which so far have been obtained only in trace amounts, can be regarded as polymers of carbon monoxide. At pressures exceeding 5 GPa, carbon monoxide converts to polycarbonyl, a solid polymer that is metastable at atmospheric pressure but is explosive.


Laboratory preparation

Carbon monoxide is conveniently produced in the laboratory by the dehydration of formic acid or oxalic acid, for example with concentrated
sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...
. Another method is heating an intimate mixture of powdered
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
metal and calcium carbonate, which releases CO and leaves behind
zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...
and calcium oxide: : Silver nitrate and iodoform also afford carbon monoxide: : Finally, metal oxalate salts release CO upon heating, leaving a
carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...
as byproduct: :


Production

Thermal
combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion ...
is the most common source for carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is produced from the partial oxidation of
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
-containing compounds; it forms when there is not enough oxygen to produce
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
(), such as when operating a stove or an
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
in an enclosed space. A large quantity of CO byproduct is formed during the oxidative processes for the production of chemicals. For this reason, the process off-gases have to be purified. Many methods have been developed for carbon monoxide production.


Industrial production

A major industrial source of CO is producer gas, a mixture containing mostly carbon monoxide and nitrogen, formed by combustion of carbon in air at high temperature when there is an excess of carbon. In an oven, air is passed through a bed of coke. The initially produced equilibrates with the remaining hot carbon to give CO. The reaction of with carbon to give CO is described as the Boudouard reaction. Above 800 °C, CO is the predominant product: : (Δ''H''r = 170 kJ/mol) Another source is " water gas", a mixture of
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
and carbon monoxide produced via the endothermic reaction of
steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
and carbon: : (Δ''H''r = 131 kJ/mol) Other similar " synthesis gases" can be obtained from
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
and other fuels. Carbon monoxide can also be produced by high-temperature electrolysis of carbon dioxide with solid oxide electrolyzer cells. One method developed at DTU Energy uses a cerium oxide catalyst and does not have any issues of fouling of the catalyst. : Carbon monoxide is also a byproduct of the reduction of metal
oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation st ...
ores with carbon, shown in a simplified form as follows: :MO + C → M + CO Carbon monoxide is also produced by the direct oxidation of carbon in a limited supply of oxygen or air. : Since CO is a gas, the reduction process can be driven by heating, exploiting the positive (favorable) entropy of reaction. The Ellingham diagram shows that CO formation is favored over in high temperatures.


Use


Chemical industry

Carbon monoxide is an industrial gas that has many applications in bulk chemicals manufacturing. Large quantities of aldehydes are produced by the hydroformylation reaction of alkenes, carbon monoxide, and . Hydroformylation is coupled to the Shell higher olefin process to give precursors to detergents. Phosgene, useful for preparing isocyanates, polycarbonates, and polyurethanes, is produced by passing purified carbon monoxide and
chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...
gas through a bed of porous activated carbon, which serves as a catalyst. World production of this compound was estimated to be 2.74 million tonnes in 1989. : Methanol is produced by the
hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or Saturated ...
of carbon monoxide. In a related reaction, the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide is coupled to C−C bond formation, as in the Fischer–Tropsch process where carbon monoxide is hydrogenated to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. This technology allows
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
or biomass to be converted to diesel. In the Cativa process, carbon monoxide and methanol react in the presence of a homogeneous iridium catalyst and hydroiodic acid to give
acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...
. This process is responsible for most of the industrial production of acetic acid.


Metallurgy

Carbon monoxide is a strong reductive agent and has been used in pyrometallurgy to reduce
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
s from ores since ancient times. Carbon monoxide strips oxygen off metal oxides, reducing them to pure metal in high temperatures, forming
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
in the process. Carbon monoxide is not usually supplied as is, in the gaseous phase, in the reactor, but rather it is formed in high temperature in presence of oxygen-carrying ore, or a carboniferous agent such as coke, and high temperature. The blast furnace process is a typical example of a process of reduction of metal from ore with carbon monoxide. Likewise, blast furnace gas collected at the top of blast furnace, still contains some 10% to 30% of carbon monoxide, and is used as fuel on Cowper stoves and on Siemens-Martin furnaces on open hearth steelmaking.


Proposed use as a rocket fuel

Carbon monoxide has been proposed for use as a fuel on Mars by NASA researcher Geoffrey Landis. Carbon monoxide/oxygen engines have been suggested for early surface transportation use as both carbon monoxide and oxygen can be straightforwardly produced from the carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars by zirconia
electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses Direct current, direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of c ...
, without using any Martian water resources to obtain hydrogen, which would be needed to make methane or any hydrogen-based fuel. Landis also proposed manufacturing the fuel from the similar carbon dioxide atmosphere of Venus for a sample return mission, in combination with solar-powered UAVs and rocket balloon ascent.


Biological and physiological properties


Physiology

Carbon monoxide is a bioactive molecule which acts as a gaseous signaling molecule. It is naturally produced by many enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways, the best understood of which is the catabolic action of heme oxygenase on the
heme Heme (American English), or haem (Commonwealth English, both pronounced /Help:IPA/English, hi:m/ ), is a ring-shaped iron-containing molecule that commonly serves as a Ligand (biochemistry), ligand of various proteins, more notably as a Prostheti ...
derived from hemoproteins such as
hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...
. Following the first report that carbon monoxide is a normal neurotransmitter in 1993, carbon monoxide has received significant clinical attention as a biological regulator. Because of carbon monoxide's role in the body, abnormalities in its metabolism have been linked to a variety of diseases, including neurodegenerations, hypertension, heart failure, and pathological inflammation. In many tissues, carbon monoxide acts as anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, and encouragers of neovascular growth. In animal model studies, carbon monoxide reduced the severity of experimentally induced bacterial
sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
, pancreatitis, hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury, colitis, osteoarthritis, lung injury, lung transplantation rejection, and neuropathic pain while promoting skin wound healing. Therefore, there is significant interest in the therapeutic potential of carbon monoxide becoming pharmaceutical agent and clinical standard of care.


Medicine

Studies involving carbon monoxide have been conducted in many laboratories throughout the world for its anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective properties. These properties have the potential to be used to prevent the development of a series of pathological conditions including ischemia reperfusion injury, transplant rejection, atherosclerosis, severe sepsis, severe malaria, or autoimmunity. Many pharmaceutical drug delivery initiatives have developed methods to safely administer carbon monoxide, and subsequent controlled clinical trials have evaluated the therapeutic effect of carbon monoxide.


Microbiology

Microbiota may also utilize carbon monoxide as a gasotransmitter. Carbon monoxide sensing is a signaling pathway facilitated by proteins such as CooA. The scope of the biological roles for carbon monoxide sensing is still unknown. The human microbiome produces, consumes, and responds to carbon monoxide. For example, in certain bacteria, carbon monoxide is produced via the reduction of carbon dioxide by the enzyme carbon monoxide dehydrogenase with favorable bioenergetics to power downstream cellular operations. In another example, carbon monoxide is a nutrient for methanogenic archaea which reduce it to methane using hydrogen. Carbon monoxide has certain antimicrobial properties which have been studied to treat against infectious diseases.


Food science

Carbon monoxide is used in modified atmosphere packaging systems in the US, mainly with fresh meat products such as beef, pork, and fish to keep them looking fresh. The benefit is two-fold: carbon monoxide protects against microbial spoilage and it enhances the meat color for consumer appeal. The carbon monoxide combines with
myoglobin Myoglobin (symbol Mb or MB) is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the cardiac and skeletal muscle, skeletal Muscle, muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. Myoglobin is distantly related to hemoglobin. Compar ...
to form carboxymyoglobin, a bright-cherry-red pigment. Carboxymyoglobin is more stable than the oxygenated form of myoglobin, oxymyoglobin, which can become oxidized to the brown pigment metmyoglobin. This stable red color can persist much longer than in normally packaged meat. Typical levels of carbon monoxide used in the facilities that use this process are between 0.4% and 0.5%. The technology was first given "
generally recognized as safe Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) is a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts under the conditions of its intended use. An ingredient with a GRAS d ...
" (GRAS) status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 for use as a secondary packaging system, and does not require labeling. In 2004, the FDA approved CO as primary packaging method, declaring that CO does not mask spoilage odor. The process is currently unauthorized in many other countries, including Japan,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.


Weaponization

In ancient history, Hannibal executed Roman prisoners with coal fumes during the Second Punic War. Carbon monoxide had been used for
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
during
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
at some extermination camps, the most notable by gas vans in Chełmno, and in the Action T4 "
euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
" program.


History


Prehistory

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 Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
technologies emerging circa 6,000 BC through the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
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.


Ancient history

Early civilizations developed mythological tales to explain the origin of fire, such as Prometheus from
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
who shared fire with humans.
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
(384–322 BC) first recorded that burning coals produced toxic fumes. Greek physician
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...
(129–199 AD) speculated that there was a change in the composition of the air that caused harm when inhaled, and many others of the era developed a basis of knowledge about carbon monoxide in the context of
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
fume toxicity.
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.


Pre–industrial revolution

Georg Ernst Stahl mentioned ''carbonarii halitus'' in 1697 in reference to toxic vapors thought to be carbon monoxide. Friedrich Hoffmann conducted the first modern scientific investigation into carbon monoxide poisoning from coal in 1716. Herman Boerhaave conducted the first scientific experiments on the effect of carbon monoxide (coal fumes) on animals in the 1730s.
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
is considered to have first synthesized carbon monoxide in 1772. Carl Wilhelm Scheele similarly isolated carbon monoxide from charcoal in 1773 and thought it could be the carbonic entity making fumes toxic. Torbern Bergman isolated carbon monoxide from oxalic acid in 1775. Later in 1776, the French chemist produced CO by heating
zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...
with coke, but mistakenly concluded that the gaseous product was
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
, as it burned with a blue flame. In the presence of oxygen, including atmospheric concentrations, carbon monoxide burns with a blue flame, producing carbon dioxide. Antoine Lavoisier conducted similar inconclusive experiments to Lassone in 1777. The gas was identified as a compound containing
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
and
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
by William Cruickshank in 1800. Thomas Beddoes and James Watt recognized carbon monoxide (as hydrocarbonate) to brighten venous blood in 1793. Watt suggested coal fumes could act as an antidote to the oxygen in blood, and Beddoes and Watt likewise suggested hydrocarbonate has a greater affinity for animal fiber than oxygen in 1796. In 1854, Adrien Chenot similarly suggested carbon monoxide to remove the oxygen from blood and then be oxidized by the body to carbon dioxide. The mechanism for carbon monoxide poisoning is widely credited to Claude Bernard whose memoirs beginning in 1846 and published in 1857 phrased, "prevents arterials blood from becoming venous". Felix Hoppe-Seyler independently published similar conclusions in the following year.


Advent of industrial chemistry

Carbon monoxide gained recognition as an essential reagent in the 1900s. Three industrial processes illustrate its evolution in industry. In the Fischer–Tropsch process, coal and related carbon-rich feedstocks are converted into liquid fuels via the intermediacy of CO. Originally developed as part of the German war effort to compensate for their lack of domestic petroleum, this technology continues today. Also in Germany, a mixture of CO and hydrogen was found to combine with olefins to give aldehydes. This process, called hydroformylation, is used to produce many large scale chemicals such as
surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a Blend word, blend of "surface-active agent", coined in ...
s as well as specialty compounds that are popular fragrances and drugs. For example, CO is used in the production of
vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...
. In a third major process, attributed to researchers at Monsanto, CO combines with methanol to give
acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...
. Most acetic acid is produced by the Cativa process. Hydroformylation and the acetic acid syntheses are two of myriad carbonylation processes.


See also

* * * * *


References


External links


Global map of carbon monoxide distribution






National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
(CDC) *
Carbon Monoxide—NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic
CDC *

CDC





* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carbon Monoxide Airborne pollutants Articles containing video clips Gaseous signaling molecules Industrial gases Oxocarbons Smog Toxicology Diatomic molecules