hypochlorous acid

From hypo- +‎ chlorous acid.

hypochlorous acid (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) A weak, unstable acid, HOCl, known only in solution; it is made by the action of chlorine on water and, along with its salts, the hypochlorites, occurs naturally in biology and has various practical uses in disinfection.
   • 2025 May 1, Jen Schwartz, “The magic molecule”, in Scientific American‎^[1], volume 332, number 5, pages 54-55:

     Hypochlorous acid isn't new. It's listed as one of the World Health Organization's essential medicines and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use on food products and in certain clinical applications. It's increasingly used in industrial and commercial settings, such as water-treatment plants, hospitals and nursing homes. It doesn't irritate the skin, eyes or lungs. In fact, optometrists use it to clean eyes before procedures, and people have been treating wounds with it for more than a century. It breaks down quickly, doesn't produce toxic waste, and isn't harmful to animals or the environment. […] Hypochlorous acid is a well-studied disinfectant that appears to be extremely effective and safe—so why isn't it a household name? ¶ Scientists have known about the powers of hypochlorous acid for nearly 200 years. […] Before the advent of antibiotics, hypochlorous acid was a go-to disinfectant. It was used as a wound sanitizer during World War I. […] For all its benefits, hypochlorous acid solution has one major weakness: it's highly unstable. […] Within minutes of exposure to light or air hypochlorous acid starts to deteriorate back into salt water, making it useless as a disinfectant. […] This lack of shelf stability is the biggest reason hypochlorous acid sprays never became a staple of the cleaning-products aisle. […] For decades hypochlorous acid lingered in the background, used as a disinfectant in specific industrial and commercial contexts that could justify a pricey, on-site manufacturing process to create products on demand. But COVID accelerated the need for different methods of disinfection that would be safe, effective and easy to use in a wide range of environments.

• hydrochloric acid
• chloric acid
• perchloric acid