benzoic acid
Noun: A white, crystalline, organic compound with the formula C₆H₅COOH. It occurs naturally in many plant resins, such as gum benzoin, and is used as a food preservative and in the manufacture of various other chemicals.
Benzoic acid is primarily used as a chemical name in scientific, industrial, and food technology contexts. It refers to the specific compound itself. - It functions as a countable noun when referring to the substance in general or a specific quantity (e.g., "a sample of benzoic acid"). - It is often used attributively to describe related substances or processes (e.g., "benzoic acid derivative").
- General Reference:
- Benzoic acid is a common food preservative, often listed as E210.
- The laboratory synthesis of benzoic acid from toluene is a standard experiment.
- Specific Reference:
- They added 5 grams of benzoic acid to the solution.
- The purity of the benzoic acid was confirmed by melting point analysis.
- In Chemistry: The term is foundational. Its conjugate base is the benzoate ion (C₆H₅COO⁻), and its derivatives are central to organic chemistry (e.g., benzoyl chloride, methyl benzoate).
- In Biochemistry: It is involved in metabolic pathways. Many organisms, including humans, excrete ingested benzoic acid as hippuric acid.
- Benzoate (noun): A salt or ester of benzoic acid (e.g., sodium benzoate).
- Benzoyl (adjective/noun prefix): The univalent radical C₆H₅CO– derived from benzoic acid (e.g., benzoyl peroxide).
- Carboxybenzene (Systematic IUPAC name, less common)
- Phenylformic acid (Alternative historical name, rarely used)
The definition is highly specific to chemistry. It does not have idiomatic meanings or common phrasal verbs. Its usage is almost exclusively technical.
- a white crystalline solid occurring in many resins