Chloric acid, , is an oxoacid of chlorine, and the formal precursor of chlorate salts. It is a strong acid and an oxidizing agent.
Properties Chloric acid is thermodynamically unstable with respect to disproportionation.
Chloric acid is stable in cold aqueous solution up to a concentration of approximately 30%, and solution of up to 40% can be prepared by careful evaporation under reduced pressure. Above these concentrations, chloric acid solutions decompose to give a variety of products, for example:
When it reacts with suitable cations, it forms chlorate () salts.
Production Chloric acid may be produced from barium chlorate through its reaction with sulfuric acid, resulting in a solution of chloric acid and insoluble barium sulfate precipitate:
The chlorate must be dissolved in boiling water and the acid should be somewhat diluted in water and heated before mixing.
Another method which can be used to produce solutions up to 10% concentration is by the use of cation exchange resins and a soluble salt such as , where the Na+ cation will exchange with H+.
Another method is the heating of hypochlorous acid, producing chloric acid and hydrogen chloride:
The acid may be concentrated up to 40% in a vacuum dessicator over .
Hazards Chloric acid is a powerful oxidizing agent which ignites most organic materials on contact. It is also corrosive.
See also Chlorate Hypochlorous acid Chlorous acid Perchloric acid Oxidizing acid Dichlorine pentoxide
References
Additional Information