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
Hypophosphoric acid Hypophosphoric acid Hypophosphoric acid is a mineral acid with the formula HPO, with phosphorus in a formal oxidation state of +4. In the solid state it is present as the dihydrate, HPO·2HO. In hypophosphoric acid the phosphorus atoms are identical and joined directly with a P−P bond. There is an isomeric form isohypophosphoric acid which has a different structure with non-identical phosphorus atoms, one of which has a directly bonded H atom and an oxidation state of +3, which is joined by a P−O−P bridge to the second phosphorus atom which has an oxidation state of +5. Hypophosphoric acid can