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I am reading a book on hydrogen energy (handbook of hydrogen energy), and came across the following compound on the Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle: $$\ce{CuO\text{*}CuCl_2(s)}$$

What exactly is the role of the "*" symbol here, how can I better understand this compound?

Martin - マーチン
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    How is this a duplicate of the linked question? They are about different (admittedly equivalent) notations, and the linked answer and none of the replies to it mention use of a "*" at all. – Ian Bush Aug 04 '23 at 09:26
  • Although the asterisk is this context denote adduct, it can also mean other things. It can denote electronically excited states. In organic chemistry, it can denote chiral centers: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_Missouri/MU%3A__1330H_(Keller)/25%3A_Chemistry_of_Life%3A_Organic_and_Biological_Chemistry/25.07%3A_Chirality_in_Organic_Chemistry – Nilay Ghosh Aug 06 '23 at 10:29
  • A similar post for my above point: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/443235/nuclear-reaction-what-is-the-asterisk-an-indication-of – Nilay Ghosh Aug 06 '23 at 10:29

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${CuO*CuCl_2}$ is another way of writing $\ce{CuO*CuCl2}$. This substance is a stoichiometric mixture of $\ce{CuO}$ and $\ce{CuCl2}$. The symbol asterisk (*) is often used in chemistry instead of the point or dot (·) , especially when using machine languages like LaTeX.

Maurice
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    I'd argue that using correct typography is one of the strengths of latex. I've never seen anyone deliberately using an asterisk instead of a center dot. – Martin - マーチン Aug 04 '23 at 00:03