Sciencemadness Discussion Board - what did Ln stand for?

what did Ln stand for?

fuming_nitric_acid - 6-10-2008 at 10:44

I have a basic question as what did Ln mean? Was it solvent?

Thanks!

watson.fawkes - 6-10-2008 at 11:08

LN2 is liquid nitrogen.

Formatik - 6-10-2008 at 12:09

The material you are reading should usually make clear what the acronym stands for. With LN they could be referring to lead nitrate or lithium niobiate. But I would also think it is liquid nitrogen.

Nerro - 6-10-2008 at 12:30

Lanthanum?

jokull - 6-10-2008 at 12:59

It would be more helpful if you write the context of such "symbol", i.e. the paragraph within you read it.

Sauron - 6-10-2008 at 13:01

Let's have some context, pls quote what this comes from.

bfesser - 6-10-2008 at 13:26

Natural Logarithm? ln

chemkid - 6-10-2008 at 14:02

Lanthanoids?

HydroCarbon - 6-10-2008 at 17:03

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ln

As you can see, it can stand for a lot of things. As Sauron said, we need more details.

fuming_nitric_acid - 7-10-2008 at 08:04

Let me examplify:
LnPd => In a Suzuki Cross Coupling
I have found what L alone means he is = Ligand.
But what is Ln?

Thanks!!!

Klute - 7-10-2008 at 08:52

L small N could be mean Pd with n ligands, a general symbole for variosu heterogenous palladium catalysts. If this is from an article discussing seevral catalyst, it's surely that.

Sauron - 7-10-2008 at 10:19

If L is ligand and n a variable for integer then usually n will be both small and italicized as Ln

[Edited on 8-10-2008 by Sauron]

chemrox - 7-10-2008 at 13:04

it seems like we're all speculating because there still isn't enough context information. I'd like to read the sentence and know the cite before commenting.

Nicodem - 7-10-2008 at 23:11

Quote:

Originally posted by Sauron
If L is ligand and n a variable for integer then usually n will be both small and italicized as Ln

[Edited on 8-10-2008 by Sauron]

That can not be since n (nonsubscripted) stands for "normal isomer" as in n-butyl, etc. The atomic index is subscripted but is never italic. For example, Na2SO4 is correct while Na2SO4 (italic index) would be wrong. One just has to admire the tediousness of IUPAC in enforcing coherent rules. It makes the life of a chemist difficult but at least possible.
Anyway, yes L stands for ligand in organometalic papers, but Fuming_nitric_acid next time please quote the paragraph. It is ridiculous that you expect anyone to answer a question about the meaning of an acronym without providing the context.

S.C. Wack - 8-10-2008 at 03:52

Klute is right; and Sauron is right about the italics, I have seen this very thing in ACS journals.

Nicodem - 8-10-2008 at 06:29

You are right about the italic thing. I actually went to check the interpretation of the IUPAC rules about this (On the use of italic and roman fonts for symbols in scientific text) and there is a discrepancy about indexes when a variable or a number. They are always roman (non-italic) when they have a discrete value (like in Na2SO4

but when a variable is used it should be italic (like in LnPd0

. L should be roman since considered a "label". At least this is how I understood the interpretation in the document referred above. I do not understand the logic behind it, but hey, you can't go against IUPAC!

Edit: On second reading I'm not sure any more. As if this was not enough, checking some random papers showed that every author uses his own style. Even in ACS journals they use anything from Ln, Ln to Ln. I give up.

[Edited on 8/10/2008 by Nicodem]

kmno4 - 8-10-2008 at 08:30

Quote:

Originally posted by chemkid
Lanthanoids?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanthanide
In my book (small monography about lanthanides) "Ln" is often used as symbol of any lanthanide (especially in tables, for example: solubility of Ln sulfates..... , etc).