Saturation (chemistry)

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1. In physical chemistry
   Physical chemistry
   
   Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics....
   , saturation is the point at which a solution
   Solution
   
   In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
    of a substance can dissolve no more of that substance and additional amounts of it will appear as a precipitate
   Precipitation (chemistry)
   
   Precipitation is the formation of a solid in a solution during a chemical reaction. When the reaction occurs, the solid formed is called the precipitate, and the liquid remaining above the solid is called the supernate....
   . This point of maximum concentration
   Concentration
   
   In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given chemical substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent....
   , the saturation point, depends on the temperature of the liquid as well as the chemical nature of the substances involved. This can be used in the process of recrystallisation to purify a chemical: it is dissolved to the point of saturation in hot solvent, then as the solvent cools and the solubility decreases, excess solute precipitates. Impurities, being present in much lower concentration, do not saturate the solvent and so remain dissolved in the liquid. If a change in conditions (e.g. cooling) means that the concentration is actually higher than the saturation point, the solution has become supersaturated.
2. In physical chemistry
   Physical chemistry
   
   Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics....
   , when referring to surface processes, saturation denotes the degree of which a binding site is fully occupied. For example, base saturation
   Cation exchange capacity
   
   In soil science, cation exchange capacity is the capacity of a soil for ion exchange of Electric charge ions between the soil and the soil solution....
    refers to the fraction of exchangeable cations
   Cation exchange capacity
   
   In soil science, cation exchange capacity is the capacity of a soil for ion exchange of Electric charge ions between the soil and the soil solution....
    that are base cations. Similarly, in environmental soil science
   Environmental soil science
   
   Environmental soil science is the study of the interaction of humans with the pedosphere as well as critical aspects of the biosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the Earth's atmosphere....
   , nitrogen saturation
   Nitrogen cycle
   
   The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the transformations of nitrogen and nitrogen-containing compounds in nature. It is a cycle which includes Gas components....
    means that an ecosystem, such as a soil, cannot store anymore nitrogen.
3. In organic chemistry
   Organic chemistry
   
   Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry which involves the science study of the structure, properties, composition, chemical reaction, and preparation of chemical compounds that contain carbon....
   , a saturated compound has no double or triple bonds. In saturated linear hydrocarbons, every carbon atom is attached to two hydrogen atoms, except those at the ends of the chain, which bear three hydrogen atoms. In the case of saturated methane
   Methane
   
   Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula . It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees....
   , four hydrogen atoms are attached to the single, central carbon atom. Of simple hydrocarbons, alkane
   Alkane
   
   Alkanes, also known as paraffins, are chemical compounds that consist only of the elements carbon and hydrogen , wherein these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds without any cyclic structure ....
   s are saturated, and alkene
   Alkene
   
   In organic chemistry, an alkene, olefin, or olefine is an Saturation chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond....
   s are unsaturated. The degree of unsaturation
   Degree of unsaturation
   
   The degree of unsaturation formula is used in organic chemistry to help draw chemical structures. The formula lets the user determine how many rings, double bonds, and triple bonds are present in the compound to be drawn....
    specifies the amount of hydrogen that a compound can bind. The term is applied similarly to the fatty acid
   Fatty acid
   
   In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
    constituents of lipid
   Lipid
   
   Lipids are broadly defined as any fat-soluble , naturally-occurring molecule, such as fats, oils, waxes, cholesterol, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins , monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others....
   s, where the fat
   Fat
   
   Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemistry, fats are generally ester of glycerol and fatty acids....
    is described as saturated or unsaturated, depending on whether the constituent fatty acids contain carbon-carbon double bonds. Unsaturated
   Unsaturated compound
   
   In organic chemistry, an unsaturated compound is a chemical compound that contains carbon-carbon double bonds or triple bonds such as in alkenes or alkynes....
    is used when any carbon structure contains double or occasionally triple bonds. Many vegetable oils
   Vegetable fats and oils
   
   Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure....
    contain fatty acids with one (monounsaturated) or more (polyunsaturated) double bonds in them. The bromine number
   Bromine number
   
   Bromine number is the amount of bromine in grams absorbed by 100 grams of a sample. The number indicates the degree of saturation .The Bromine Number is useful as a measure of aliphatic unsaturation in gasoline samples....
    is an index of unsaturation.
4. In organometallic chemistry
   Organometallic chemistry
   
   Organometallic chemistry is the study of chemical compounds containing chemical bonding between carbon and a metal. Since many compounds without such bonds are chemically similar, an alternative may be compounds containing metal-element bonds of a largely covalent character....
   , an unsaturated complex has fewer than 18 valence electrons
   18-Electron rule
   
   The 18-electron rule is a rule of thumb used primarily in transition metal chemistry for characterizing and predicting the stability of metal complexes....
    and thus is susceptible to oxidative addition
   Oxidative addition
   
   Oxidative addition and reductive elimination are two important classes of reactions in organometallic chemistry . Their relationship is shown below where y represents the number of ligands on the metal and n is the oxidation state of the metal....
    or coordination of an additional ligand
   Ligand
   
   In chemistry, a ligand is either an atom, ion, or molecule that bonds to a central metal, generally involving formal donation of one or more of its electrons....
   . Unsaturation is characteristic of many catalysts
   Catalysis
   
   Catalysis is the process in which the reaction rate of a chemical reaction is either increased or decreased by means of a chemical substance known as a catalyst....
    because it is usually a requirement for substrate activation.
5. In biochemistry
   Biochemistry
   
   Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
   , the term saturation refers to the fraction of total protein binding site
   Binding site
   
   In biochemistry, a binding site is a region on a protein, DNA, or RNA to which specific other molecules and ions — in this context collectively called Ligand , or more specifically, protein ligands — form a chemical bond....
   s that are occupied at any given time.

See also

• Saturated fat
  Saturated fat
  
  Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only Saturation fatty acid radicals. There are several kinds of naturally occurring saturated fatty acids, which differ by the number of carbon atoms - from 1 to 24....
  
• Unsaturated fat
  Unsaturated fat
  
  An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there are one or more double bonds in the fatty acid chain. A fat molecule is Monounsaturated fat if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond....