page_title: Sodium
section_title: Organosodium compounds
hierarchical_section_title: Sodium / Chemistry / Organosodium compounds
caption_attribution_description: English: The structure of the monensin sodium salt complex Bahasa Indonesia: Struktur kompleks garam natrium monensin
context_page_description: Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is ²³Na. The free metal does not occur in nature, and must be prepared from compounds. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt. Many salts of sodium are highly water-soluble: sodium ions have been leached by the action of water from the Earth's minerals over eons, and thus sodium and chlorine are the most common dissolved elements by weight in the oceans.
  Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide. Among many other useful sodium compounds, sodium hydroxide is used in soap manufacture, and sodium chloride is a de-icing agent and a nutrient for animals including humans.
  Sodium is an essential element for all animals and some plants. Sodium ions are the major cation in the extracellular fluid and as such are the major contributor to the ECF osmotic pressure and ECF compartment volume.
context_section_description: Many organosodium compounds have been prepared. Because of the high polarity of the C-Na bonds, they behave like sources of carbanions (salts with organic anions). Some well-known derivatives include sodium cyclopentadienide (NaC₅H₅) and trityl sodium ((C₆H₅)₃CNa). Sodium naphthalenide, Na⁺[C₁₀H₈•]⁻, a strong reducing agent, forms upon mixing Na and naphthalene in ethereal solutions.
caption: The structure of the complex of sodium (Na+, shown in yellow) and the antibiotic monensin-A.
exif: {}