Group 15 Elements
| Home | | Inorganic Pharmaceutical Chemistry |Chapter: Essentials of Inorganic Chemistry : Group 15 Elements
Members of group 15 of the periodic table (15th vertical column) are summarised as group 15 elements (or the nitrogen group) consisting of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi).
Group
15 Elements
Members of group 15 of the periodic table (15th vertical column)
are summarised as group 15 elements (or the nitrogen group) consisting of nitrogen
(N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi) (Figure 6.1).
The appearance of group 15 elements varies widely, reflecting
the changing nature of the elements when descending within the group from
nonmetal to metal. This trend can be seen both in their structures as well as
in their chemical and physical properties. Nitrogen is a colourless and
odourless gas. Phosphorous exists as white, red and black solids, whereas
arsenic is found as yellow and grey solids. Antimony presents itself in a
metallic grey form, and bismuth is a white crystalline metal.
Nitrogen atoms are included in a variety of organic drugs, and their application will not further be discussed in this book. Phosphorus is also an essential element for human life, and some of its biochemical uses as well as clinical applications will be discussed in next 2nd Section . The clinical use of arsenic is known as the start of chemotherapy. Arsenic, despite its known toxicity, is still clinically used to combat a variety of diseases including cancer.
Related Topics
