Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or nitrous, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, with a slight metallic scent and taste. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidizer similar to molecular oxygen. It is soluble in water. Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain reducing effects. Its name "laughing gas", coined by Humphry Davy, is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational
Dihydrogen complex some cases, hydrogen ligands are usefully characterized by X-ray crystallography, but often the presence of metals, which strongly scatter X-rays, complicates the analysis. The triangular MH subunit has six normal modes of vibration, one of which is mainly of ν character. In free H, this very strong bond absorbs at 4300 cm, whereas in dihydrogen complexes the frequency drops to around 2800 cm. Two preparation methods involve the direct reactions with H gas. The first entails the addition of H to an unsaturated metal center, as originally reported for W(CO)(P-i-Pr)(H). In such cases, the unsaturated complex in fact features an