reducing [reductive] atmosphere

Abiogenesis — Primordial soup redirects here. For the board game, see Primordial Soup (board game). Origin of life redirects here. For views on the origins of life outside the natural sciences, see Creation myth. Pre Cambrian stromatolites in the Siyeh… …   Wikipedia

Desulfonylation reactions — are chemical reactions leading to the removal of a sulfonyl group from organic compounds. As the sulfonyl functional group is electron withdrawing, methods for cleaving the sulfur carbon bonds of sulfones are typically reductive in nature.… …   Wikipedia

Polychlorinated biphenyl — PCBs redirects here. For printed circuit boards, see printed circuit board. Labelling transformers containing PCBs …   Wikipedia

photosynthesis — photosynthetic /foh teuh sin thet ik/, adj. photosynthetically, adv. /foh teuh sin theuh sis/, n. Biol., Biochem. (esp. in plants) the synthesis of complex organic materials, esp. carbohydrates, from carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic salts,… …   Universalium

Microbial metabolism — is the means by which a microbe obtains the energy and nutrients (e.g. carbon) it needs to live and reproduce. Microbes use many different types of metabolic strategies and species can often be differentiated from each other based on metabolic… …   Wikipedia

Hypothetical types of biochemistry — are forms of biochemistry speculated to be scientifically viable but not proven to exist at this time. While the kinds of living beings we know on earth commonly use carbon for basic structural and metabolic functions, water as a solvent and DNA… …   Wikipedia

oxidation–reduction reaction — ▪ chemical reaction Introduction also called  redox reaction        any chemical reaction in which the oxidation number of a participating chemical species changes. The term covers a large and diverse body of processes. Many oxidation– reduction… …   Universalium

bacteria — bacterial, adj. bacterially, adv. /bak tear ee euh/, n.pl., sing. bacterium / tear ee euhm/. ubiquitous one celled organisms, spherical, spiral, or rod shaped and appearing singly or in chains, comprising the Schizomycota, a phylum of the kingdom …   Universalium

organometallic compound — ▪ chemical compound Introduction  any member of a class of substances containing at least one metal to carbon bond in which the carbon is part of an organic group. Organometallic compounds constitute a very large group of substances that have… …   Universalium

biosphere — biospheric /buy euh sfer ik/, adj. /buy euh sfear /, n. 1. the part of the earth s crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life. 2. the ecosystem comprising the entire earth and the living organisms that inhabit it. [1895 1900; < G Biosphäre; …   Universalium

painting, Western — ▪ art Introduction       history of Western painting from its beginnings in prehistoric times to the present.       Painting, the execution of forms and shapes on a surface by means of pigment (but see also drawing for discussion of depictions in …   Universalium