Potassium bicarbonate dry chemical fire extinguishers, as the principal component of the Purple-K dry chemical, and in some applications of condensed aerosol fire suppression. It is the only dry chemical fire suppression agent recognized by the U.S. National Fire Protection Association for firefighting at airport crash rescue sites. It is about twice as effective in fire suppression as sodium bicarbonate. Potassium bicarbonate is an effective fungicide against powdery mildew and apple scab, allowed for use in organic farming. Potassium bicarbonate has widespread use in crops, especially for neutralizing acidic soil. The word "saleratus", from Latin "sal æratus" meaning "aerated salt", was widely
Potassium ethyl xanthate as the anhydrous salt and is nonhygroscopic. Potassium ethyl xanthate is used in the mining industry as flotation agent for extraction of the ores of copper, nickel, and silver. The method exploits the affinity of these "soft" metals for the organosulfur ligand. Potassium xanthate is a useful reagent for preparing xanthate esters from alkyl and aryl halides. The resulting xanthate estes are useful intermediates in organic synthesis. The LD50 is 683 mg/kg (oral, rats) for potassium ethyl xanthate. Potassium ethyl xanthate Potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX) is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CHCHOCSK. It is a pale yellow powder