Napalm Napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The title is a portmanteau of the names of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: co-precipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids. Napalm B is the more modern version of napalm (utilizing styrene derivatives) and, although distinctly different in its chemical composition, is often referred to simply as "napalm". Napalm was originally developed in 1942 in a secret laboratory at Harvard University, by a team led by chemist Louis Fieser under the United States
Haloacetic acids Haloacetic acids Haloacetic acids are carboxylic acids in which a halogen atom takes the place of a hydrogen atom in acetic acid. Thus, in a monohaloacetic acid, a single halogen would replace a hydrogen atom. For example, chloroacetic acid would have the structural formula CHClCOH. In the same manner, in dichloroacetic acid two chlorine atoms would take the place of two hydrogen atoms (CHClCOH). The inductive effect caused by the electronegative halogens often result in the higher acidity of these compounds by stabilising the negative charge of the conjugate base. Haloacetic acids (HAAs) are a common undesirable by-product of drinking