Acid Digestions of Organic Samples

Overview

The lack of negative side effects is unfortunately limited to the inorganic side of the table. The ability of nitric acid to react with alcohols and aromatic rings forming explosive compounds (nitro glycerine and TNT, to name two) calls for caution when using nitric acid alone or in combination with other reagents in the decomposition of organic matrices. If your sample contains -OH functionality it is best to pre-treat the sample with concentrated sulfuric acid. When concentrated, the sulfuric will act as a dehydrating agent:

R-CH₂-CH(OH)-R' + H₂SO₄    R-CH = C(OH)-R' + H₂O

I do not recommend the use of nitric acid for the digestion of highly aromatic samples.

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