Picric acid
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Description
A yellow acid dye that was prepared in 1771 by Woulfe by treating indigo with nitric acid. Picric acid had early use as a textile dye for wool and silk. It was quickly learned that picric acid had poor washfastness and was 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; acide picrique (Fr.); ácido pícrico (Esp., Port.); 1,3,5-trinitrophenol; TNP; carbozitic acid; carbozotic acid; picronitric acid; phenol trinitrate; Melinite
Risks
- Flammable solid. Flash point = 150 C. Explosive at 300C.
- Harmful by ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption.
- Keep away from metals as metal salts are more sensitive to explosion.
- 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 (burns after melting with a sooty flame and characteristic whistling noise)
- 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