Citric acid, being tribasic, forms either acid monometallic, acid dimetallic or neutral trimetallic salts; thus, mono-, diand tri-potassium and sodium citrates are known.
An acid is said to be monobasic, dibasic, tribasic, &c., according to the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms; thus HNO 3 is monobasic, sulphuric acid H 2 SO 4 dibasic, phosphoric acid H 3 PO 4 tribasic.
Kekule (Ann., 1883, 221, p. 230), however, reinvestigated this acid; he showed that it was dibasic and not tribasic; that it gave tartaric acid on reduction; and, finally, that it was dioxytartaric acid, HOOC C(OH) 2 C(OH) 2 COOH.
Orthophosphoric acid, H3P04, a tribasic acid, is obtained by boiling a solution of the pentoxide in water; by oxidizing, red phosphorus with nitric acid, or yellow phosphorus under the surface of water by bromine or iodine; and also by decomposing a mineral phosphate with sulphuric acid.
That orthoboric acid is a tribasic acid is shown by the formation of ethyl orthoborate on esterification, the vapour density of which corresponds to the molecular formula B(0C2H5)3; the molecular formula of the acid must consequently be B(OH) 3 or H 3 B0 3.