Definition

1. Noun:
   • A colorless, poisonous, volatile liquid acid: Cyanic acid is a chemical compound that exists as a colorless liquid at room temperature. It is toxic and evaporates easily.
   • A compound that hydrolyzes readily: It breaks down easily in the presence of water (hydrolyzes) to form ammonia and carbon dioxide.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The laboratory handled cyanic acid with extreme caution due to its toxicity.
  • Cyanic acid is unstable and hydrolyzes readily to ammonia and carbon dioxide.

Advanced Usage

• Chemical context: In chemistry, "cyanic acid" specifically refers to the chemical compound with the formula HOCN. It is the simplest stable compound containing carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in a 1:1:1 ratio.
  • The isomerization of cyanic acid to isocyanic acid is a topic of study.

Variants and Related Words

• Cyanate (n): A salt or ester of cyanic acid.
  • Potassium cyanate is derived from cyanic acid.
• Isocyanic acid (n): An isomer of cyanic acid with the formula HNCO.
  • Isocyanic acid has different chemical properties than cyanic acid.

Synonyms

• HOCN: The chemical formula for cyanic acid.
• Hydrogen cyanate: An alternative systematic name.

Related Phrases

• Cyanic acid derivatives: Compounds formed from or related to cyanic acid.
  • The research focused on synthesizing new cyanic acid derivatives.

Noun

1. a colorless poisonous volatile liquid acid that hydrolyzes readily to ammonia and carbon dioxide