Arginine. Arginine, or L-arginine as it is called with its L-structure, is a semi-essential amino acid. Arginine is involved in many metabolic processes and important in the treatment of heart diseases and high blood pressure.
Layman's explanation: Nitric acid was first discovered in 1648 by a German chemist, Johann Rudolf. However, in 1901 Wilhelm Ostwald developed the Ostwald Process, which became the principle way of producing nitric acid.
The Ostwald process is a chemical process that in two stages, converts ammonia to nitric acid (also known as HNO3). In the process for step 1, ammonia is oxidized to form nitric oxide and also nitrogen dioxide.