Detailed Product Description:

Chloroacetic acid is a carboxylic acid and is a useful building block in

organic synthesis.  Like other chloroacetic acids and related halocarbons,

it is a potentially dangerous alkylating agent.

Light brown crystalline powder.  Deliquescent.  Soluble in water, alcohol,

Ether, chloroform, and carbon disulfide.

Grade/Purity:

This is Reagent Grade material with a minimum purity of 99%

Background:

Chloroacetic acid is synthesized by the chlorination of acetic acid in the

presence of red phosphorus, sulfur, or iodine as a catalyst.  It also forms

by the hydrolysis of trichloroethylene using sulfuric acid as a catalyst.

The chloroacetic acid family (systematic name chloroethanoic acids) is

Comprised of three related chlorocarbon carboxylic acids:

Chloroacetic acid (chloroethanoic acid ), CH2ClCOOH

Dichloroacetic acid (dichloroethanoic acid), CHCl2COOH

Trichloroacetic acid (trichloroethanoic acid), CCl3COOH

As the number of chlorine atoms increases, the electronegativity of that end of the

molecule increases, and the molecule adopts a progressively more ionic character: its

density, boiling point and acidity all increase.

Application Notes:

Illustrative of its usefulness in organic chemistry is the O-alkylation of

salicylaldehyde with chloroacetic acid, followed by decarboxylation of

the resulting ether, produces benzofuran.

Commonly used in herbicides, preservatives, as a bacteriostat, and as an

intermediate in the production of synthetic caffeine, glycine, and sarcosine.

Precautions:

All of these acids are unusually strong for organic acids, and should generally

be treated with similar care as for strong mineral acids like hydrochloric acid.

Even neutral salts however, tend to be highly toxic, because the ions interfere in

biological processes (such as the citric acid cycle) that normally process plain

acetate ions.  Interestingly, the chloroacetate anion is the most toxic, with a rat,

oral LD50 of about 0.5 g/kg.

Toxic by ingestion and inhalation.

Download MSDS below.  Read and understand precautions fully before using

this substance.

Click here to download MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

Packaging:

Quantity of 200 grams comes packed in 250ml wide-mouth amber glass bottle.