Metal hydroxide


In chemistry, metal hydroxides are a family of compounds of the form where M is a metal. They consist of hydroxide anions and metallic cations, and are often strong bases. Some metal hydroxides, such as alkali metal hydroxides, ionize completely when dissolved. Certain metal hydroxides are weak electrolytes and dissolve only partially in aqueous solution. Example - KOH,NaOH,etc.

Examples

Other metal hydroxides

Molecular metal hydroxides

Many metal hydroxides are in fact complexes, i.e. molecules or ions. The transition metal hydroxide complexes are a well developed area in coordination chemistry.

Role in soils

In soils, it is assumed that larger amounts of natural phenols are released from decomposing plant litter rather than from throughfall in any natural plant community. Decomposition of dead plant material causes complex organic compounds to be slowly oxidized or to break down into simpler forms, which are further transformed into microbial biomass or are reorganized, and further oxidized, into humic assemblages, which bind to clay minerals and metal hydroxides.