Sodium amalgam sodium metal in mercury or the reverse. Sodium amalgams can be purchased from chemical supply houses. Since its introduction in the 1880s by students of Robert Bunsen, Julius Tafel and Hans Goldschmidt, sodium amalgam has also been used in organic chemistry as a powerful reducing agent, which is safer to handle than sodium itself. An example of its use is in the Emde degradation. A sodium amalgam is used in the design of the high pressure sodium lamp providing sodium to produce the proper color, and mercury to tailor the electrical characteristics of the lamp. Sodium amalgam is a by-product
Actinide chemistry Actinide chemistry Actinide chemistry (or actinoid chemistry) is one of the main branches of nuclear chemistry that investigates the processes and molecular systems of the actinides. The actinides derive their name from the group 3 element actinium. The informal chemical symbol An is used in general discussions of actinide chemistry to refer to any actinide. All but one of the actinides are f-block elements, corresponding to the filling of the 5f electron shell; lawrencium, a d-block element, is also generally considered an actinide. In comparison with the lanthanides, also mostly f-block elements, the actinides show much more variable valence. The