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
Squaric acid Squaric acid Squaric acid, also called quadratic acid because its four carbon atoms approximately form a square, is a dibasic organic acid with the chemical formula . The conjugate base of squaric acid is the hydrogensquarate anion ; and the conjugate base of the hydrogensquarate anion is the divalent squarate anion . This is one of the oxocarbon anions, which consist only of carbon and oxygen. Squaric acid is a reagent for chemical synthesis, used for instance to make photosensitive squaraine dyes and inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatases. Squaric acid is a white crystalline powder with a thermal decomposition point