When heated with water and mineral acids, the nitrolic acids are completely decomposed, yielding fatty acids and nitrous oxide.
They discriminate between the red or erythro-salts, which are well crystallized, very explosive and unstable compounds, and which regenerate the colourless nitrolic acid on the addition of dilute mineral acids, and the leuco-salts, which are colourless salts obtained by warming the erythro-salts or by exposing them to direct sunlight.
By this treatment a primary nitro-alkyl yields a nitrolic acid, the potassium salt of which forms an intense red solution; a secondary nitro-alkyl forms a pseudo nitrol, which gives an intense blue solution, while the tertiary compound does not act with nitrous acid.