The noun COLORIMETER has 1 sense: 1. a measuring instrument used in colorimetric analysis to determine the quantity of a substance from the color it yields with specific reagents. Familiarity information: COLORIMETER used as a noun is very rare.he noun COLORIMETER has 1 sense: 1. a measuring instrument used in colorimetric analysis to determine the quantity of a substance from the color it yields with specific reagents. Familiarity information: COLORIMETER used as a noun is very rare.
anhydride - a compound formed from one or more other compounds in a reaction resulting in removal of water. 1  acetic anhydride - a compound that is needed in order to refine opium into heroin. 2  phthalic anhydride - a white cyclic anhydride.
Production [edit]. Maleic anhydride was traditionally produced by the oxidation of benzene or other aromatic compounds. As of 2006, only a few smaller plants continue to use benzene. Instead, most maleic anhydride is produced by vapor-phase oxidation of n-butane. The overall process converts the methyl groups to carboxylate and dehydrogenates the backbone. The selectivity of the process reflects the robustness of maleic anhydride, with its conjugated double-bond system.