Hypochlorous acid
Ácido hipocloroso
- Date
- 1834 · confidence high
- Place
- Montpellier, Occitanie, France
- Credited to
- Antoine-Jérôme Balard
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Balard prepared and named hypochlorous acid by reacting chlorine gas with an aqueous suspension of mercury(II) oxide. The compound gave rise to the hypochlorite family, the basis of disinfectants and household and industrial bleaches.
The exact city where Balard did the work is not precisely confirmed; in 1834 he was a professor in Montpellier.
What it led to
- Hypochlorite-based disinfectants and bleaches
- Water treatment with chlorine
Built on
- Isolation of chlorine gas