Talk:Viologen

Toxicity?

The page on Paraquat says:

"Paraquat is one of the trade names for the viologen N,N'-Dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium dichloride. Other members of this class include diquat, cyperquat, diethamquat, difenzoquat, and morfamquat. All of these are easily reduced to their radical ion, which generates superoxide radicals that react with unsaturated membrane lipids."

Is any of that relevant for this page? Probably more relevant here than there, if so.

What does "this class" mean in that context? Viologens? That page needs clarifying on this point.

Does reacting with unsaturated membrane lipids explain the high toxicity of Paraquat? If so, and if this attribute is shared in common with other Viologens, then there should definitely be a section on toxicity on this page, and the first paragraph should contain a statement like: "Viologens are very toxic to humans if swallowed." DewiMorgan (talk) 20:10, 26 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Miscellaneous

It is unclear what "radical mono cation" means and to which "radical mono cation" it refers.50.103.241.71 (talk) 04:43, 16 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It is if you look at the diagram. A radical is a lone electron, the red dotted nitrogen. A cation is a positive ion, the blue nitrogen in the same molecule. Mono is redudanct here, but perhaps added to distinguish it from the (non-radical) dication in the previous step. --Belg4mit (talk) 14:27, 16 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Categorization

This reference source cited in the article calls viologen a salt. Somehow it should be in a subcategory of Category:Salts, right? I would put it in the category directly, but it probably belongs there in another way in the category tree. Can a specialist do this or advise on the right way? -- econterms (talk) 23:58, 14 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, viologens are always salts. --Smokefoot (talk) 02:47, 15 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]