Reagent Chemicals is a publication of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

(ACS) Committee on Analytical Reagents, detailing

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

purity Purity may refer to: Books * ''Pureza'' (novel), a 1937 Brazilian novel by José Lins do Rego * ''Purity'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Jonathan Franzen ** ''Purity'' (TV series), a TV series based on the novel *''Purity'', a 2012 novel by Jackson P ...

for over four hundred of the most widely used chemicals in laboratory analyses and chemical research.

Chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

that meet this standard may be sold as “ACS Reagent Grade” materials. Reagent standards relieve

chemists A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

of concern over chemical purity. “ACS Reagent Grade,” is regarded as a gold standard measure and is in some cases required for use in chemical manufacturing, usually where stringent quality specifications and a purity of equal to or greater than 95% are required. The American Chemical Society does not validate the purity of chemicals sold with this designation, but it relies on suppliers, acting in their self-interest, to meet these standards. In practice, the reliability of supplier stated purity is at times questionable. In addition to specifications for each chemical, Reagent Chemicals provides detailed methods for determining how to measure the

properties Property is the ownership of land, resources, improvements or other tangible objects, or intellectual property. Property may also refer to: Mathematics * Property (mathematics) Philosophy and science * Property (philosophy), in philosophy an ...

and

impurities In chemistry and materials science, impurities are chemical substances inside a confined amount of liquid, gas, or solid, which differ from the chemical composition of the material or compound. Firstly, a pure chemical should appear thermodyn ...

listed in the specifications. Included are detailed explanations for numerous common analytical methods such as

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, an ...

ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...

, and headspace

chromatography In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it through a system ( ...

atomic absorption spectroscopy Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) is a spectroanalytical procedure for the quantitative determination of chemical elemlight) by free atoms in the gaseous state. Atomic absorption spectroscopy is based o ...

, and optical emission spectroscopy. Reagent Chemicals is primarily of interest to manufacturers and suppliers of chemicals to laboratories worldwide, and less so to research laboratories. Many standards organizations and federal agencies that set guidelines require the use of ACS-grade regent chemicals for many test procedures. This includes the

United States Pharmacopeia The ''United States Pharmacopeia'' (''USP'') is a pharmacopeia (compendium of drug information) for the United States published annually by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (usually also called the USP), a nonprofit organization tha ...

(USP) and the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

(EPA). An exception would be those working on trace analyses (measuring contaminants in the environment, for example), where small impurities in

reagents In chemistry, a reagent ( ) 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 ...

would be significant.

Reagent Chemicals Online

After eleven paper editions over 68 years, Reagent Chemicals became an electronic resource in 2017. The publication is updated several times a year to include new reagents and methods of analysis. Changes are published online six months prior to becoming an official standard, allowing manufacturers to adjust their labels or processes. While the full details of most reagents are behind a

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of ...

, that fo
acetone
is publicly available to showcase a typical entry.

History of Reagent Chemicals

*1903: The American Chemical Society created the Committee on the Purity of Reagents, the forerunner of the Committee on Analytical Reagents, acknowledging the increasing needs for purity and standard in chemical research and manufacturing. *1917: The American Chemical Society established the ACS Committee on Analytical Reagents. William F. Hillebrand (1853-1925), one of Washington's most distinguished chemists, was elected as the first chair. He played a key editorial role in judging which analytical methods would be published as ACS standards, with colleagues referring to him as "Supreme Court of Chemistry". He additionally achieved stature with

Geological Survey A geological survey is the systematic investigation of the geology beneath a given piece of ground for the purpose of creating a geological map or model. Geological surveying employs techniques from the traditional walk-over survey, studying ou ...

and the

Bureau of Standards A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

. *1920s: The Committee began publishing specifications for chemical reagents and test methods in scientific journals. At this point, analytical methods were primarily what we now consider to be “Classical Wet Methods". *1950: The 1st edition of Reagent Chemicals was published and introduced the application of analytical instrumentation. Reagent Chemicals had significant impact on chemical laboratories by enabling greatly improved accuracy and sensitivity. *2000: The 9th edition was published and continued a trend toward eliminating or simplifying tedious classical procedures for trace analyses and adding instrumental methods, where possible. *2006: The release of the 10th edition introduced Monographs for Standard-Grade Reference Materials. * 2016: The 11th edition introduces heavy metal test methodologies utilizing

ICP-OES Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), also referred to as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), is an analytical technique used for the detection of chemical elements. It is a type of emiss ...

. * 2017: The new online edition of Reagent Chemicals, based on the 11th edition in print, improved the speed and simplicity with which the Committee communicates updates and changes by bringing the entire reference resource to the ACS journals platform.

Committee

The ACS Committee on Analytical Reagents is responsible for the Reagent Chemical publication and standards included within. The committee includes members from chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers,

academia An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, and government organizations (

NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist
Reagent Chemicals
American Chemical Society Chemistry reference works 1950 in science