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chelate

American  
[kee-leyt] / ˈki leɪt /

adjective

  1. Chemistry.

    1. of or noting a heterocyclic compound having a central metallic ion attached by covalent bonds to two or more nonmetallic atoms in the same molecule.

    2. of or noting a compound having a cyclic structure resulting from the formation of one or more hydrogen bonds in the same molecule.

  2. Zoology. having a chela or chelae.


noun

  1. Chemistry. a chelate compound.

verb (used without object)

Chemistry.
chelated, chelating
  1. (of a heterocyclic compound) to react to form a chelate.

  2. (of a compound) to form a ring by forming one or more hydrogen bonds.

verb (used with object)

chelated, chelating
  1. Chemistry. to combine (an organic compound) with a metallic ion to form a chelate.

chelate British  
/ ˈkiːleɪt /

noun

  1. chem a coordination compound in which a metal atom or ion is bound to a ligand at two or more points on the ligand, so as to form a heterocyclic ring containing a metal atom

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. zoology of or possessing chelae

  2. chem of or denoting a chelate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (intr) chem to form a chelate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
chelate Scientific  
/ kēlāt′ /
  1. A chemical compound in the form of a ring that contains a metal ion attached by coordinate bonds to at least two nonmetal ions. Many commercial dyes as well as important biological substances, such as chlorophyll and the heme of hemoglobin, are chelates.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of chelate

First recorded in 1820–30; chel(a) 1 + -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

For example, it may be possible to chelate magnesium ions from bacterial environments, which should selectively inhibit resistant strains without impacting the wild type bacteria that may be beneficial to our health.

From Science Daily Nov. 16, 2024

Figure 19.15 showed one example of a chelate.

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

Many polydentate ligands are chelating ligands, and a complex consisting of one or more of these ligands and a central metal is a chelate.

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

Appendages of the 1st pair bisegmented completely chelate, furnished with peculiar organs, the serrula and the lamina.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

Although the prae-oral pair of appendages in the higher Arachnida is usually chelate, it is not always so; in spiders it is not so; nor in many Acari.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

To try to manage the constipation, I started taking chelated magnesium every night before bed.

From Seattle Times Mar. 13, 2024

For the former, Husain suggests spraying the leaves with chelated liquid iron; for the latter, epsom salt spray.

From Salon Jul. 5, 2022

Hot water, bleach, corn syrup, Epsom salt, Borax, chelated iron.

From Slate Dec. 19, 2018

Make sure the fertilizer is complete and has chelated iron.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 3, 2016

Williams eventually got "disability which covered the costs of her WD drugs…but only after her liver, kidneys & nervous system suffered without the copper chelating medicine," Lynda wrote.

From Fox News Nov. 18, 2021

They contain surfactants, which keep loosened soil suspended in water, and chelating agents, which keep mineral deposits from forming.

From Washington Post Nov. 13, 2020

A chelating ligand is also known as a chelating agent.

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

The chelating films had picked up traces of gold, silver, lead, and arsenic everywhere they had been placed, at between three and nine times the levels found on the control.

From The New Yorker Nov. 19, 2018

He added a chelating agent which, if there were any nickel present, would sequester the nickel ions and bring them out of solution as a brick-red precipitate.

From Cum Grano Salis by Garrett, Randall

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