pH-regulated chemical oscillators.

ConspectusThe hydrogen ion is arguably the most ubiquitous and important species in chemistry. It also plays a key role in nearly every biological process. In this Account, we discuss systems whose behavior is governed by oscillations in the concentration of hydrogen ion. The first chemical oscillators driven by changes in pH were developed a quarter century ago. Since then, about two dozen new pH oscillators, systems in which the periodic variation in pH is not just an indicator but an essential prerequisite of the oscillatory behavior, have been discovered. Mechanistic understanding of their behavior has grown, and new ideas for their practical application have been proposed and, in some cases, tested.Here we present a catalog of the known pH oscillators, divide them into mechanistically based categories based on whether they involve a single oxidant and reductant or an oxidant and a pair of reductants, and describe general mechanisms for these two major classes of systems. We also describe in detail th...