Products
Carbon is of outstanding importance in pharmacy because it is contained in the majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Activated carbon, which is available in pharmacies and drugstores as a pure substance, as a suspension or in the form of capsules, among other products, consists mainly of the element.
Structure and properties
Carbon (C, atomic number 6) is a chemical element and a nonmetal with four valence electrons. It exists in nature in various crystal modifications. Graphite is a soft, gray-black solid composed of planar hexagonal carbon layers. This structure explains its use for lead in pencils. Diamonds, on the other hand, are semi-transparent to transparent and extremely hard crystals in which each carbon atom is bonded to four others. Natural diamonds are formed hundreds of kilometers underground under high pressure and temperature. Amorphous carbon has no ordered crystal structure and is found in soot and coal. Soot is formed, for example, during incomplete combustion from wood in a furnace. Coal contains pure carbon as well as organic carbon compounds and other elements. Carbon is also found in sedimentary rocks such as limestone, marble and dolomite (carbonates). Carbon is one of the central elements from which all living things on earth are built. After oxygen, it is the second most abundant element in the human body and a component of nucleic acids (RNA, DNA), amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. It is characterized by its binding affinity to other carbon atoms and many other elements, resulting in countless compounds. Typical bonding partners include hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, halogens and sulfur. Carbon can form single bonds, double bonds and triple bonds, form chains, branched chains and rings, and even salts such as calcium carbide. Carbon is the most important energy carrier, for example in the form of hydrocarbons (CxHx) in petroleum and also in the human body. Carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) is produced when organic matter is burned. Using methane as an example:
- CH4 (methane) + 2 O2 (oxygen) CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 2 H2O (water)
Even diamonds can be burned under the action of oxygen and heat. Carbon dioxide is also formed when carbonates and hydrogen carbonates come into contact with acids and during energy production in the human body.
Areas of application
Carbon is the basic building block of all organic compounds and as such is present in the majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Adverse effects (selection).
Carbon dioxide, a product of combustion, is responsible for the worldwide greenhouse effect and global warming, which is expected to cause dramatic changes on Earth in the future. Plastics derived from petroleum, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, pollute the environment because their natural degradation takes a long time. And particulate matter formed during incomplete combustion, for example, can trigger lung diseases.
