Talk:Isoprene

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Maybe a link explaining what those diagrams mean (I think I remember from high school chemistry, but not everyone did high school chemistry) would be good. --Robert Merkel

If you are asking if we need a large article on chemical nomenclature, we probably do. However that kind of article could reach the size of a small book in no time flat. Most people learn nomenclature as they go because there is too much of it to swallow at once. Someone wanting to track down what those "diagrams mean" might fruitfully be pointed to a pre-college introduction to the subject of organic chemistry. Isaac Asimov, if I recall correctly, has a book covering that kind of thing. Again, that's a huge topic and outside the scope of my interests.

In short, however, the diagram uses a kind of organic chemistry shorthand. The lines represent carbon-carbon bonds, double lines represent double bonds, and the vertices are tetravalent carbon atoms binding covalently. If, by counting, there are fewer than 4 bonds to carbon, you have to assume that there is a carbon-hydrogen linkage (i.e. a C-H bond ). Dwmyers 18:55, 18 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Atmospheric role of isoprene

As isoprene is the most emitted non-methane volatile hydrocarbon in the atmosphere, and as it plays a crucial role in atmospheric chemistry, a separate section on its atmospheric role might be appropriate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Karlc1980 (talk • contribs) 17:05, 10 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Confusing

'About 95% of isoprene production is used to produce cis-1,4-polyisoprene - a synthetic version of natural rubber.

Natural rubber is a polymer of isoprene - most often cis-1,4-polyisoprene...

Unclear. Isn't second 'cis-1,4-polyisoprene' misplaced?

NantucketNoon 15:06, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Someone needs to check the density of natural rubber. I believe natural rubber density is of the order of 1gm/cc (Powel, P. C., Engineering with Polymers, Chapman & Hall, London, (1983) pg 16. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.245.36.248 (talk) 06:11, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I stomped on "Environmental impact" because it implied that isoprene was a "pollutant" without citation. 216.14.79.3 (talk) 00:38, 13 July 2009 (UTC)Ubiquitousnewt[reply]

Isoprene is a major source of volatile organics in the atmosphere, which will photo-oxidise to form aerosol particles, but to call it pollution would be quite misleading. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.88.15.105 (talk) 10:45, 16 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This treatment ignores some of the most important aspects of isoprene. It is produced mostly by plants and in absolutely huge amounts. I don't know what happened to earlier information about isoprene but I will try to find time to add the relevant information. I have personally measured that humans make about 4 mg per day but the source is not known. The vast majority of isoprene is made by plants by the NON-mevalonate pathway, the methyl erythritol pathway. The EPA is going to start regulating isoprene as a possible carcinogen. I routinely measure 100 ppb in my breath and almost everyone I have tested has at least 10 ppb in their breath. You can "stomp" environmental impact, but it doesn't change the fact that incredible amounts of isoprene is made, primarily by oak and aspen trees. This isoprene will react with NOx and sunlight to make isoprene. The solution is not to cut down all the oak trees, but rather we learn that there is even more reason to reduce NOx. 76.242.145.188 (talk) 02:29, 17 May 2010 (UTC)Tom Sharkey, Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University[reply]