RE: Seachem Fluorish Excel

["David A. Youngker" <nestor10 at mindspring_com>]

> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 04:06:18 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Scott Hieber
>
> I *am* beginning to see a connection somewhere
> between the disinfectant and the tannic extracts
> -- I think.

I was thinking more along the lines of similarities between sugars, alcohols
and aldehydes. Hmmm...tannin, though - a little works fine as a chelator, a
lot becomes bactericide...

> So I guess that why and how Excel works is not
> simple to answer.  Now I also wonder how simple
> it is to produce. :-|

Glucose in solution "cycles" between two stages - the alpha and beta - by
passing through an open-chain aldehyde form in what's called _mutarotation_.
The transformation is accomplished as the hydroxyl molecules and a
hydrogen's proton "swap ends" on a chain the constantly folds onto itself in
passing. At one point, there is a "free carbonyl" as the exchange takes
place. It is during this phase that the glucose can act as an aldehyde.

(The carbonyl actually exists in sugar as an easily-convertible hexiacetal
group, but just as "free hydrogen" describes the hydronium ion in water,
"free carbonyl" is a convenience to carry the concept.)

Carbohydrates are but a form of alcohol, both containing the hydroxyl ion.
Even the simplest of sugars, glucose, is but a collection of carbon and
hydroxyl bonds. More complex sugars are just collections of the four simpler
sugars save for a crucial water molecule here and there for bonding.

Photosynthesis gathers the essential elements of glucose through the
conversion of light energy and chemical absorption to form the sugar in
"stages". One of those is the splitting of the carbon dioxide molecule to
provide the "base" of the sugar's hexiacetal group.

Excel has been described as providing some of the "building blocks" of the
photosynthetic process. I would imagine that the glutaracetal provides those
in an aqueous solution, and that absorption of these compounds in low
concentrations might allow the plant to assemble what it needs while saving
energy by skipping a step or two.

I would also guess that too much would provide a good demonstration of its
bactericidal nature. Then, of course, all those free-floating forms of
organic carbon (dead bacteria, etc.) might just cause the next generation to
gorge themselves a little and actually make an appearance as the proverbial
"bloom".

But these really are just guesses, after all...

-Y-