Redox - Etymology

Etymology

"Redox" is a portmanteau of "reduction" and "oxidation".

The word oxidation originally implied reaction with oxygen to form an oxide, since (di)oxygen was historically the first recognized oxidizing agent. Later, the term was expanded to encompass oxygen-like substances that accomplished parallel chemical reactions. Ultimately, the meaning was generalized to include all processes involving loss of electrons.

The word reduction originally referred to the loss in weight upon heating a metallic ore such as a metal oxide to extract the metal. In other words, ore was "reduced" to metal. Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) showed that this loss of weight was due to the loss of oxygen as a gas. Later, scientists realized that the metal atom gains electrons in this process. The meaning of reduction then became generalized to include all processes involving gain of electrons. Even though "reduction" seems counter-intuitive when speaking of the gain of electrons, it might help to think of reduction as the loss of oxygen, which was its historical meaning.

The electrochemist John Bockris has used the words electronation and deelectronation to describe reduction and oxidation processes respectively when they occur at electrodes. These words are analogous to protonation and deprotonation, but they have not been widely adopted by chemists.

The term "hydrogenation" could be used instead of reduction, since hydrogen is the reducing agent in a large number of reactions, especially in organic chemistry and biochemistry. But unlike oxidation, which has been generalized beyond its root element, hydrogenation has maintained its specific connection to reactions which add hydrogen to another substance (e.g., the hydrogenation of unsaturated fats in saturated fats, R-CH=CH-R + H₂ → R-CH₂-CH₂-R).