What is nitrous acid salt called?

The nitrite ion, which has the chemical formula NO−2, is a symmetric anion with equal N–O bond lengths. Upon protonation, the unstable weak acid nitrous acid is produced. Nitrite can be oxidized or reduced, with the product somewhat dependent on the oxidizing/reducing agent and its strength. The nitrite ion is an ambidentate ligand and is known to bond to metal centers in at least five different ways.

2 group is present in nitrous acid esters and nitro compounds. Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is also used in the food production industry for curing meat.

Nitrate or nitrite (ingested) under conditions that result in endogenous nitrosation has been classified as "Probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A) by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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10 Comments

Dave Busby

Salts of nitric acid are nitrates. Salts of nitrous acid are nitrites.

erik hughes

wpmacdonald, nitrates are relatively stable (inert), and unlikely to change and cause harm; nitrites, on the other hand, are unstable.

erik hughes

Val Wilkinson, you're right, but nitrates are relatively stable (inert) while nitrites are not, and are considered carcinogenic (why would quizzclub ask about a salt that was carcinogenic?). Still, I hate these dubious "questions" where the author is certainly not human, and doesn't know what it is "talking" about...

Val Wilkinson

erik hughes, I thought an NO2 salt was a nitrite and an NO3 salt was a nitrate - but it is over 40 years since I studied chemistry. It didn't specify sodium - but it should have said " a salt" not "salt"