Importance of Phosphorus Compounds

By the end of the nineteenth century, matches and fertilisers had become firmly established major uses for phosphorns compounds. In addition, limited but significant application had commenced in such diverse fields as medicine, ceramics, dental cements, baking powder, cheese and other foodstuffs. 

The twentieth-century expansion of all phosphorus chemistry was enormous and it was paralleled by a great increase in both the diversity and volume of application of manufactured phosphorus compounds. Among these applications, however, a handful of simple inorganic phosphorus compounds have remained commercially the most prominent. These were in the fields of fertilizers, detergents and metal treatment. 

early in the twenty-first century, interest in compounds containing both carbon and phosphorous continues to increase. Various terms are in use to describe these. They include organo-phosphorus, organic phosphorus, carbophosphorus, phosphacarbon and so on. The enormous increase of DNA-related research continues, and the role of P compounds in nanotechnology and materials science is continually being expanded. 

A most notable achievement was the first successful cloning of the sheep DoUy by Wilmut in 1997. The human genome project was started in 1990, and by 2001-2003, the first drafts of the complete human genome sequence were published simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005, the genome sequence of an ape was first published. 

Electrical/electronic materials Fertilisers Flame retardants 

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The essentiality of most of the elements mentioned above could have been confidently predicted from the discussions W e have developed in earlier chapters. Nitrogen and sulphur are constituent elements of proteins and many other cell constituents. The importance of phosphorus compounds such as nucleic acids, phospholipids and co-eri2ymes has been stressed several times. Magnesium is a constituent of the chlorophylls. Iron, copper, zinc, manganese and molybdenum are essential to the functioning of particular enzymes. In other cases, like that of calcium, their involvement in metabolism is less well understood and in still other cases, like potassium and boron, is almost completely obscure. 

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