Formic acid

Basic Information

CAS: 64-18-6

Chemical Formula: HCOOH or CH₂O₂

Molecular Weight: 46.03

Melting Point: 8.2 to 8.4 °C

Boiling Point: 100.6 °C

Water Solubility: Freely soluble in water

Density: 1.22 g/cm³

Appearance: Colorless, transparent, fuming liquid with a pungent, irritating odor

Flash Point: 69 °C

UN Number: 1779

Refractive Index: 1.3714

Solubility: Freely soluble in water, ethanol, diethyl ether, benzene, and other organic solvents

Application

Formic acid is one of the fundamental organic chemical raw materials, widely used in industries such as pesticides, leather, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and rubber. It can be directly applied in fabric processing, leather tanning, textile printing and dyeing, and the preservation of green fodder. Additionally, it serves as a metal surface treatment agent, rubber additive, and industrial solvent. In organic synthesis, it is used to synthesize various formic esters, acridine dyes, and amide-series pharmaceutical intermediates.

1. Pharmaceutical Industry: Used in the processing of caffeine, aminophenazone, aminopyrine, aminophylline, theobromine camphor, vitamin B1, metronidazole, and mebendazole.

2. Pesticide Industry: Used in the processing of propiconazole, triazole, triazole, triazole, triazophos, paclobutrazol, ethephon, insecticide ether, and trichlorfon.

3. Chemical Industry: Raw material for manufacturing various formates, formamides, pentaerythritol, neopentyl glycol, epoxidized soybean oil, epoxidized soybean oleate, tert-butyl acyl chloride, paint strippers, and phenolic resins.

4. Leather Industry: Used as tanning agents, deliming agents, and neutralizing agents for leather.

5. Rubber Industry: Processing natural rubber coagulants and manufacturing rubber antioxidants.

6. Verification of cerium, rhenium, and tungsten. Testing aromatic primary amines, secondary amines, and methoxy groups. Determining relative molecular mass and crystalline solvents for methoxy groups. Used as a fixative in microanalysis.

7. Formic acid and its aqueous solutions dissolve numerous metals, metal oxides, hydroxides, and salts. The resulting formates are water-soluble, making it suitable as a chemical cleaning agent. Formic acid contains no chloride ions, allowing its use for cleaning equipment containing stainless steel materials.

8. Used in formulating food flavorings for apple, papaya, jackfruit, bread, cheese, cream, etc., as well as flavorings for whiskey and rum. Concentration in the final flavored food product is approximately 1–18 mg/kg.

9. Other Applications: It can also be used to produce dyeing mordants, fiber and paper dyes, treatment agents, plasticizers, food preservatives, animal feed additives, and reducing agents.