oxalic acid
A dibasic, highly toxic acid (H 2 C
2 O 4 ) soluble in water and
alcohol, and slightly soluble in ether. It occurs
as the free acid in beet leaves, and as potassium
hydrogen oxalate in wood sorrel and rhubarb.
Commercially, oxalic acid is prepared from sodium
formate (HCO 2 Na) It can also be
obtained as a byproduct in the manufacture of
citric acid and by the oxidation of carbohydrates
with nitric acid (HNO 3 ) in the
presence of vanadium pentoxide (V 2 O
5 ). It is used by some bookbinders to
clear the leather before applying paste for
tooling. It must be applied in very dilute
solution, otherwise it will bleach the leather. It
is also used in the manufacture of dyestuffs for
cloth, in bleaching cotton linters and in the
manufacture of ink. Potassium hydrogen oxalate is
sometimes used to remove ink stains from paper.
(15, 195 )
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