Picric acid

Description

A yellow acid dye. Picric acid was prepared in 1771 by Woulfe by treating indigo with nitric acid. It was first used as a textile dye for wool and silk. Picric acid has poor washfastness and is explosive. As a textile colorant, it was replaced by naphthol dyes by the late 1800s. However, it was still used as an explosive until it was replaced by the less powerful, but safer, trinitrotoluene (TNT) in 1902.

Synonyms and Related Terms

2,4,6-trinitrophenol; CI 10305; carbazitic acid; picronitric acid; melinite; acide picrique (Fr.); ácido pícrico (Esp., Port.)

Risks

• Flammable solid. Flash point = 150 C. Explosive at 300C.
• Harmful by ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption.
• Fisher Scientific: SDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Soluble in water, ethanol, ether
• Composition = C6H3(NO2)3O (mol. wt. = 229.11 g/ml)
• CAS = 88-89-1
• Melting Point = 122 C
• Density 1.77 g/ml

Resources and Citations

• A.Scharff, "Synthetic dyestuffs for textiles and their fastness to washing" in ICOM Preprints, Lyon, 1999. p.654-660.
• Wikipedia: Picric acid Accessed April 2026