Chemical process involving small number on team (8)

I believe the answer is:

monoxide

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'chemical' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'process involving small number on team' is the wordplay.
'process' becomes 'mode' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'involving' indicates putting letters inside.
'small number' becomes 'no' (abbreviation for 'number').
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'team' becomes 'xi' (eleven, a football team).
'no'+'xi'='noxi'
'mode' going around 'noxi' is 'MONOXIDE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for monoxide that I've seen is " Carbon --; poisonous gas".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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