Page 167 - Encyclopedia of Chemical Compounds 3 Vols
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BORIC ACID
Hydrogen orthoborate. Red
atoms are oxygen; white atoms
are hydrogen; and yellow atom
is boron. PUBLI S H E R S
RESOURCE GROU P
the German chemist Wilhelm Homberg (1652–1715), who in
1702 treated natural borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 10H 2 O) with acid to
obtain a product he called sedative salt, probably a form of
boric acid. The chemical structure of the compound was
determined in 1808 by the French researchers Louis-Joseph
Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) and Louis-Jacques The ´nard (1777–
1857).
HOW IT IS MADE
The most common method of producing boric acid is
by treating the relatively abundant borax with hydrochlo-
ric or sulfuric acid and crystallizing out the boric acid
that forms in the reaction. A less common method of
preparation involves the treatment of borax brine solu-
tions with a chelating agent that binds to the borates
present in the brine, which can then be converted to
boric acid.
116 CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS
