prussic acid
/ˌprʌsɪk ˈasɪd
/noun
Old-fashioned term for hydrocyanic acid.Similarly, the contents of alkaloids, tannins, oxalates, glucosides, dicumarins, prussic acid, nitrates or other substances in several weeds used as fodder and grasslands has also increased....
- When this compound is dissolved in water, an acidic solution of hydrogen cyanide, also known as prussic acid, is produced.
- Selection of plants for cultivation would have been directed at reducing a serious disadvantage of the plant; that it contains two substances, a glucoside and an enzyme, which react together to produce poisonous prussic acid.
Derivatives
prussiate
/ noun ...- In 1802 he discovered that adding prussiate of mercury [Hg 2] to the waste solvent gave a precipitate that, on heating, yielded a metal quite different from platinum.
- The present invention relates to the use of certain prussiates (which are known) for plant nutrition and for the prevention and cure of certain deficiency diseases in plants.
Origin
Late 18th century: prussic from French prussique 'relating to Prussian blue'.