Description

Reagents and laboratory chemicals include substances of sufficient purity for use in chemical analysis, chemical reactions or physical testing.

More technically, IUPAC defines a reagent as a substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Reagents may be either organic or inorganic compounds that are commonly used for analytical purposes such as chemical analysis, physical testing or testing of chemical reactions.

Types

Organic

• Collins reagent (for oxidizing primary alcohols)
• Fenton's reagent (to oxidize contaminants)
• Grignard reagents (to form carbon-carbon bonds)

Analytical

• Fehling's reagent (tests chemical functionality)
• Tollen's reagent (tests chemical functionality)
• Millon's reagent (to detect soluble proteins)

Standards

Purity standards for reagents and laboratory chemicals are set by organizations such as ASTM International or the American Chemical Society.

ASTM D4447 - This guide is intended to provide the chemical laboratory manager with guidelines for the disposal of small quantities of laboratory wastes safely and in an environmentally sound manner.

BS 6376 P2 - Reagents for chemical analysis.

DOD-R-23679 - This specification covers reagents for use in checking the quality of water testing chemicals and equipments used in boiler powered ships.

References

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