carbon monoxide

(noun)

a colorless, odourless, flammable, highly toxic gas

Related Terms

Examples of carbon monoxide in the following topics:

  • Indoor Pollution: CO and CO2

    • Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are products of combustion reactions; in large amounts, carbon monoxide can cause suffocation.
    • Carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are both colorless, odorless gases.
    • Carbon monoxide is often the product of incomplete combustion reactions.
    • Carbon monoxide is highly toxic.
    • Older cars can also produce carbon monoxide.

  • Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

    • Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning occurs after excess inhalation of the odorless, colorless gas.
    • Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after respiratory inhalation of excessive carbon monoxide (CO).
    • Carbon monoxide can also have severe effects on the fetus of a pregnant woman.
    • Domestic carbon monoxide poisoning can be prevented by early detection with the use of household carbon monoxide detectors.
    • Carbon monoxide is toxic to the organism at many levels.

  • The Acetyl-CoA Pathway

    • The acetyl-CoA pathway begins with the reduction of a carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.
    • The carbon dioxide that is reduced to a carbonyl group, via the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, is combined with the methyl group to form acetyl-CoA.
    • The carbon monoxide dehydrogenase allows organisms to use carbon dioxide as a source of carbon and carbon monoxide as a source of energy.The carbon monoxide dehydrogenase can also form a complex with the acetyl-CoA synthase complex which is key in the acetyl-CoA pathway.
    • The acetyl-CoA synthetase functions in combining the carbon monoxide and a methyl group to produce acetyl-CoA. .
    • Describe the role of the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and acetyl-CoA synthetase in the acetyl-CoA pathway

  • Transport of Carbon Dioxide in the Blood

    • While carbon dioxide can readily associate and dissociate from hemoglobin, other molecules, such as carbon monoxide (CO), cannot.
    • Carbon monoxide has a greater affinity for hemoglobin than does oxygen.
    • Therefore, when carbon monoxide is present, it binds to hemoglobin preferentially over oxygen.
    • Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas which is difficult to detect.
    • Administering 100 percent (pure) oxygen is the usual treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning as it speeds up the separation of carbon monoxide from hemoglobin.

  • Carbon Oxides and Carbonates

    • The most basic oxocarbons are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
    • The simplest oxocarbon is carbon monoxide (CO).
    • Carbon monoxide is a colorless, tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air.
    • Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond.
    • Carbon monoxide is stabilized by three different resonance structures.

  • Air Pollution

    • Air pollution is also a problem indoors, where poor health has been linked to pollutants like radon, VOCs, lead paint, combustion particulates, carbon monoxide, and asbestos.

  • Heteronuclear Diatomic Molecules

    • In carbon monoxide (CO), the oxygen 2s orbital is much lower in energy than the carbon 2s orbital, so the degree of mixing is low.
    • Carbon monoxide, CO, has a total of 10 valence electrons.
    • To satisfy the octet rule for the carbon, the two atoms form a triple bond with six shared electrons in three bonding molecular orbitals.
    • Since four of the shared electrons come from the oxygen atom and only two from carbon, one of the bonding orbitals is occupied by two electrons from oxygen.

  • The Law of Multiple Proportions

    • For example, the reaction of the elements carbon and oxygen can yield both carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
    • In CO2, the ratio of the amount of oxygen compared to the amount of carbon is a fixed ratio of 1:2, a ratio of simple whole numbers.

  • Naming Molecular Compounds

    • For example, CO is carbon monoxide, not monocarbon monoxide.
    • For example, one oxygen would be monooxide, but instead it's monoxide.
    • For example, H2O (water) can be called dihydrogen monoxide (though it's not usually).

  • Biosynthesis and Energy

    • Carbon dioxide fixation is necessary to ensure carbon dioxide can be converted into organic carbon.
    • The major pathways utilized to ensure fixation of carbon dioxide include: the Calvin cycle, the reductive TCA cycle, and the acetyl-CoA pathway.
    • The Calvin cycle involves utilizing carbon dioxide and water to form organic compounds.
    • The reductive TCA cycle, commonly referred to as the reverse Krebs cycle, also produces carbon compounds from carbon dioxide and water.
    • In the acetyl-CoA pathway, carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon monoxide and then acetyl-CoA.