science

Urushibara nickel

Urushibara nickel is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Urushibara nickel rather than just read about it. In short: Urushibara nickel is a nickel-based hydrogenation catalyst. It is a heterogeneous catalyst, comparable to Raney nickel.

Key takeaways

Urushibara nickel belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Urushibara nickel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Urushibara nickel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Urushibara nickel is a nickel-based hydrogenation catalyst. It is a heterogeneous catalyst, comparable to Raney nickel. Urushibara nickel is however not pyrophoric. For most hydrogenations, it performs comparably to W-7 grade Raney nickel.

Preparation Metallic nickel is precipitated by treating a solution of a nickel salt with an excess of zinc. This precipitated nickel contains relatively large amounts of zinc and zinc oxide. Then the catalyst is activated by digesting with either base or acid. There are different designations for differently prepared Urushibara nickel catalysts. The most common is U-Ni-A and U-Ni-B. U-Ni-A is prepared by digesting the precipitated nickel with an acid such as acetic acid. U-Ni-B is prepared by digesting with a base such as sodium hydroxide. After the digestion with acid most of the zinc and zinc oxide is dissolved from the catalyst, while after digestion with base it still contains considerable amounts of zinc and zinc oxide. It is also possible to precipitate the nickel using aluminium or magnesium.

Variations The cobalt- or iron-based catalysts have also been developed, They are termed Urushibara cobalt and Urushibara iron. As a hydrogenation catalyst, Urushibara cobalt is used for nitrile reduction where it serves as a superior catalyst for the production of primary amines. Urushibara iron is limited as a catalyst due to its relatively low activity toward most functional groups, however; it does finds some use in the partial hydrogenation of alkynes to alkenes.

History The first of these catalysts were discovered by Yoshiyuki Urushibara in 1951, while doing research on the reduction of estrone to estradiol.

See also Nickel boride catalyst Nickel(II) oxide Cobalt boride Lindlar catalyst Adams's catalyst Molybdenum disulfide

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Urushibara nickel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Urushibara nickel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Urushibara nickel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Urushibara nickel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Urushibara nickel

In research: Urushibara nickel appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Urushibara nickel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Urushibara nickel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hydrogenation catalysts, Nickel alloys, Zinc alloys, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Urushibara nickel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Urushibara nickel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Urushibara nickel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Urushibara nickel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Urushibara nickel in simple terms?

Urushibara nickel is a nickel-based hydrogenation catalyst. It is a heterogeneous catalyst, comparable to Raney nickel.

Why does Urushibara nickel matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Urushibara nickel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Urushibara nickel.