Nitric acid fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 86%. Nitric acid is the primary reagent used for nitration – the addition of a nitro group, typically to an organic molecule. While some resulting nitro compounds are shock- and thermally-sensitive explosives, a few are stable enough to be used in munitions and demolition, while others are still more stable and used as pigments in inks and dyes. Nitric acid is also commonly used as a strong oxidizing agent. Commercially available nitric acid is an azeotrope with water at a concentration of 68% HNO, which is the ordinary concentrated nitric acid of commerce. This
Boric acid Boric acid Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate, boracic acid, orthoboric acid and , is a weak, monobasic Lewis acid of boron, which is often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, neutron absorber, or precursor to other chemical compounds. It has the chemical formula HBO (sometimes written B(OH)), and exists in the form of colorless crystals or a white powder that dissolves in water. When occurring as a mineral, it is called sassolite. Boric acid, or sassolite, is found mainly in its free state in some volcanic districts, for example, in the Italian region of Tuscany, the Lipari Islands