Ammonium acetate
Ammonium acetate, also known as spirit of Mindererus in aqueous solution, is a chemical compound with the formula NH4CH3CO2. It is a white, hygroscopic solid and can be derived from the reaction of ammonia and acetic acid. It is available commercially.
History
The synonym Spirit of Mindererus is named after R. Minderer, a physician from Augsburg.Uses
It is the main precursor to acetamide:It is also used as a diuretic.
Buffer
As the salt of a weak acid and a weak base, is often used to create a buffer solution. Ammonium acetate is volatile at low pressures. Because of this, it has been used to replace cell buffers that contain non-volatile salts in preparing samples for mass spectrometry. It is also popular as a buffer for mobile phases for HPLC with ELSD and CAD-based detection for this reason. Other volatile salts that have been used for this include ammonium formate.When dissolving ammonium acetate in pure water, the resulting solution typically has a pH of 7, because the equal amounts of acetate and ammonium neutralize each other. However, ammonium acetate is a dual component buffer system, which buffers around pH 4.75 ± 1 and pH 9.25 ± 1, but it has no significant buffer capacity at pH 7, contrary to common misconception.
Other
- a biodegradable de-icing agent.
- a catalyst in the Knoevenagel condensation and as a source of ammonia in the Borch reaction in organic synthesis.
- a protein precipitating reagent in dialysis to remove contaminants via diffusion.
- a reagent in agricultural chemistry for determination of soil CEC and determination of available potassium in soil wherein the ammonium ion acts as a replacement cation for potassium.
- part of Calley's method for lead artifact conservation