Deoxidation

Deoxidation, any process in which the whole or part of the oxygen is extracted from a body - e.g. the conversion of oxides to metals in smelting. This was the sole original signification of the term, but it was afterwards extended to processes in which any negative element or radical is extracted or replaced by a more positive one. Thus both the changes represented by the following equation would be called deoxidation: -

(1) Fe₂03 +3H₂= 2Fe + 30H₂,
(2) 2FeCl₃ + Zn = 2FeCl₂ +- ZnCl₂,

though in the second no oxygen is present in either of the reacting substances. The term reduction, which is practically synonymous, is, however, more frequently employed, in both the original and extended sense, than the older word deoxidation.