Organic acid presence of other substituents that affect the polarity of the compound. Simple organic acids like formic or acetic acids are used for oil and gas well stimulation treatments. These organic acids are much less reactive with metals than are strong mineral acids like hydrochloric acid (HCl) or mixtures of HCl and hydrofluoric acid (HF). For this reason, organic acids are used at high temperatures or when long contact times between acid and pipe are needed. The conjugate bases of organic acids such as citrate and lactate are often used in biologically-compatible buffer solutions. Citric and oxalic acids are used as
Chemical compound of atoms (chemical elements) in a fixed stoichiometric proportion can be termed a "chemical compound"; the concept is most readily understood when considering pure chemical substances. It follows from their being composed of fixed proportions of two or more types of atoms that chemical compounds can be converted, via chemical reaction, into compounds or substances each having fewer atoms. The ratio of each element in the compound is expressed in a ratio in its chemical formula. A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, using the standard abbreviations