Nucleic acid Nucleic acid Nucleic acids are the biopolymers, or small biomolecules, essential to all known forms of life. The term "nucleic acid" is the overall name for DNA and RNA. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. If the sugar is a compound ribose, the polymer is RNA (ribonucleic acid); if the sugar is derived from ribose as deoxyribose, the polymer is DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Nucleic acids are the most important of all biomolecules. They are found in abundance in all living things, where they
Phenylarsonic acid was first prepared by Michaelis and Loenser. X-ray crystallography indicates that the molecules are connected by hydrogen-bonds consistent with short distance of 2.5 Å separating the oxygen atoms. The arsenic center is tetrahedral. Several derivatives of phenylarsonic acid have been used as additives for animal feeds. These include 4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzenearsonic acid (3-NHPAA, or Roxarsone), "p"-arsanilic acid ("p"-ASA), 4-nitrophenylarsonic acid (4-NPAA), and "p"-ureidophenylarsonic acid ("p"-UPAA). Phenylarsonic acid Phenylarsonic acid is the chemical compound with the formula CHAsO(OH), commonly abbreviated PhAsOH. This colourless solid is an organic derivative of arsenic acid, AsO(OH), where one OH group has been replaced by a phenyl group.