Formic Acid

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Formic acid systematically called methanoic acid is the most basic form of carboxylic acid and also a aldehyde, Its chemical formula is HCOOH or HCO2H. Its name comes from the Latin expression for ant, which is formica, associated with its early isolation by the distillation of ant bodies. It can be naturally found in the venom of bees and ant stings and is also an important intermediate in chemical synthesisand salt can be taken from it named formate.
Formic acid is mainly used in the food industry as a additive and germicidal solution in livestock feed. It also used for spraying on fresh hay or other silage, to eliminate certain decay agents and cause the feed to further preserve its nutritional value, so it is widely used to preserve winter feed for cattle. It is regularly added to chicken feed to exterminate salmonella bacteria.
Outside of the food industry Formic acid is also used within the chemical industry as a primary source for a formyl group such as the formylation of methylaniline to N-methylformanilide in toluene and in synthetic organic chemistry, as a source of hydride ion and also as a originator ...
... of hydrogen in the hydrogenation production. It is used to fabricate organic latex into raw rubber. Beekeepers use formic acid as a pesticide against the Tracheal (Acarapis woodi) mite and the Varroa mite. It is also utilized in the textile industry for tanning leather. Some formate esters are artificial enhancers or perfumes as well as an effective ingredient in some kinds of domestic lime scale remover. It is used in research centers as a solvent enhancer for HPLC and CE isolation of peptides and proteins, especially when the sample is being prepared for mass spectrometry analysis. Formic acid has also been reportedly used to create fuel cells.
Like formic acid, another substance called oxalic acid can be used by beekeepers as a pesticide against the parasitic Varroa mite. Oxalic acid is a chemical substance known as a dicarboxylic acid which is a colorless solid that is about 3,000 times stronger than acetic acid. Oxalic acid is mainly found as the dihydrate and along with oxalates are found abundantly in a lot of plants. Oxalic acid's is particularly used as a cleaning or bleaching solution, especially for pulpwood and for the removal of rust or iron from minerals specimens. Many domestic chemical products contain oxalic acid, especially rust proofing treatments. Around 25% of the oxalic acid produced is used as a acerbic acid in the dyeing processes. Oxalic acid is also an essential reagent in lanthanide chemistry.
Oxalic acid is also utilized for renovating old wood. It is utilized for its reducing properties in platinotype and the premature photographic platinum/palladium printing process. Six percent of oxalic acid, called vaporized oxalic acid, is utilized in sugar syrup. Hydrated lanthanide oxalates forms quickly in strongly acid agent in a densely crystalline easily filtered form, largely free from contamination by non-lanthanide elements. When lanthanide oxalates is heated up and metal oxalates decomposes it is transformed to the oxides, which are the most popular form in which the lanthanides are sold.
The primary health hazard of formic acid is contact on skin and eye from potent vapor or liquid. Most of formic acid is not ignitable and diluted formic acid is on the US Food and Drug Administration record of food preservatives. Formic acid can be readily digested and secreted by the body even though its toxins can still cause effects. The formic acid and formaldehyde developed as metabolites of methanol are able to cause optic nerve injury which causes blindness seen in methanol poison. There are also some chronic effects connected to formic acid shown in experiments which have demonstrated as a mutagen. Chronic exposure can eventually cause liver or kidney damage and skin allergies that appear after re-exposure to the chemical.
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