Tartaric acid
Tartaric acid is an alpha-hydroxy-carboxylic acid, is diprotic and aldaric in acid characteristics. The acid itself is added to foods as an antioxidant E334 and to impart its distinctive sour taste. Tartaric Acid played an important role in the discovery of chemical chirality.
About Tartaric acid in brief
Tartaric acid is an alpha-hydroxy-carboxylic acid, is diprotic and aldaric in acid characteristics. It is a dihydroxyl derivative of succinic acid. The acid itself is added to foods as an antioxidant E334 and to impart its distinctive sour taste. Its salt, potassium bitartrate, commonly known as cream of tartar, develops naturally in the process of fermentation and is used as a leavening agent in food preparation. Tartaric Acid played an important role in the discovery of chemical chirality. It was first observed in 1832 by Jean Baptiste Biot, who observed its ability to rotate polarized light.
The naturally occurring form of the acid is dextrotaric acid or L–tartarics acid. Because it is available naturally, it is slightly cheaper than its enantiomer and the meso isomer. It can be prepared from dibromosuccinic acid using silver hydroxide using potassium tungstate as a catalyst. The meso diastereomer is -tartarsic acid -tartsaric acids’). Whereas the two chiral stereoisomers rotate plane polarized light in opposite directions, solutions of meso-tartaraic acid do not rotate plane-polarized light.
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This page is based on the article Tartaric acid published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 09, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
