Boric Acid

Description

Boric acid, also called boracic acid or orthoboric acid, is a mild acid often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, in nuclear power plants to control the fission rate of uranium, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a white powder and dissolves in water. It has the chemical formula H3BO3, sometimes written B(OH)3. When occurring as a mineral, it is called sassolite.
Preparation
Boric acid is produced mainly from borate minerals by the reaction with sulfuric acid. The largest source of borates in the world is an open-pit mine in Death Valley, California, USA.
Properties
Boric acid was first prepared by Wilhelm Homberg (1652-1715) from borax, by the action of mineral acids, and was given the name sal sedativum Hombergi. The presence of boric acid or its salts has been noted in sea-water, whilst it is also said to exist in plants and especially in almost all fruits (A. H. Allen, Analyst, 1904, 301). The free acid is found native in certain volcanic districts such as Tuscany, the Lipari Islands and Nevada, issuing mixed with steam from fissures in the ground; it is also found as a constituent of many minerals (borax, boracite, boronatrocaicite and colemanite). Boric acid is soluble in boiling water. When heated above 170°C it dehydrates, forming metaboric acid HBO2. Metaboric acid is a white, cubic crystalline solid and is only slightly soluble in water. It melts at about 236°C, and when heated above about 300°C further dehydrates, forming tetraboric acid or pyroboric acid, H2B4O7. Boric acid can refer to any of these compounds. Further heating leads to boron trioxide.
Boric acid does not dissociate in aqueous solution, but is acidic due to its interaction with water molecules:
B(OH)3 + H2O ⇌ B(OH)4− + H+
Ka = 5.8x10−10 L/mol; pKa = 9.24.
Polyborate anions are formed at pH 7–10 if the boron concentration is higher than about 0.025 mol/L. The best known of these is the tetraborate ion, found in the mineral borax:
4B(OH)4− + 2H+ ⇌ B4O72− + 9H2O

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