Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure.
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10 Facts About Hydrogen cyanide
1.
2.
Hydrogen cyanide is a linear molecule, with a triple bond between carbon and nitrogen.
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3.
Hydrogen cyanide was first isolated from a blue pigment which had been known since 1706, but whose structure was unknown.
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4.
Hydrogen cyanide is currently produced in great quantities by several processes, as well as being a recovered waste product from the manufacture of acrylonitrile.
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5.
Hydrogen cyanide is contained in the exhaust of vehicles, and in smoke from burning nitrogen-containing plastics.
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6.
Hydrogen cyanide has been discussed as a precursor to amino acids and nucleic acids, and is proposed to have played a part in the origin of life.
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7.
In February 2016, it was announced that traces of hydrogen cyanide were found in the atmosphere of the hot Super-Earth 55 Cancri e with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
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8.
In World War I, hydrogen cyanide was used by the French from 1916 as a chemical weapon against the Central Powers, and by the United States and Italy in 1918.
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9.
Hydrogen cyanide was used in the camps for delousing clothing in attempts to eradicate diseases carried by lice and other parasites.
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10.
Hydrogen cyanide was the agent employed in judicial execution in some US states, where it was produced during the execution by the action of sulfuric acid on sodium or potassium cyanide.
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