(BQ) Part 2 book "Descriptive inorganic chemistry" has contents: The group 15 elements - the pnictogens; the group 18 elements - the noble gases, transition metal complexes, properties of the 3d transition metals, properties of the 4d and 5d transition metals, the group 12 elements,.and other contents. | CHAPTER 15 The Group 15 Elements: The Pnictogens N P As Sb Bi Group Trends Contrasts in the Chemistry of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Overview of Nitrogen Chemistry The First Dinitrogen Compound Nitrogen Propellants and Explosives Two of the most dissimilar nonmetallic elements are in the same group: reactive phosphorus and unreactive nitrogen. Of the other members of the group, arsenic is really a semimetal, and the two lower members of the group, antimony and bismuth, exhibit weakly metallic behavior. T he discovery of phosphorus by the German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669 provides the most interesting saga of the members of this group. The discovery occurred by accident during his investigation of urine. Urine was a favorite topic of research in the seventeenth century, for it was believed anything gold colored, such as urine, had to contain gold! However, when Brand fermented urine and distilled the product, he obtained a white, waxy, flammable solid with a low melting point—white phosphorus. One hundred years later, a route to extract phosphorus from phosphate rock was devised, and chemists no longer needed buckets of urine to synthesize the element. In these days of pocket butane lighters, we forget how difficult it used to be to generate a flame. So in 1833, people were delighted to find how easily fire could be produced by using white phosphorus matches. This convenience came at a horrendous human cost, because white phosphorus is extremely toxic. The young women who worked in the match factories died in staggering numbers from phosphorus poisoning. This occupational hazard manifested itself as “phossy jaw,” a disintegration of the lower jaw, followed by an agonizing death. Nitrogen Hydrides Haber and Scientific Morality Nitrogen Ions The Ammonium Ion Nitrogen Oxides Nitrogen Halides Nitrous Acid and Nitrites Nitric Acid and Nitrates Overview of Phosphorus Chemistry Phosphorus Nauru, the .
