EDTA Acid

Chemical name: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

Other name: EDTA acid

Cas No: 60-00-4

EINECS: 200-449-4

Molecular formula: C10H16N2O8

Molecular weight: 292.24

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Specification

Packing: 25kg bag/drum, customized packing is available.

Characteristics: dust-free product, applied  as bleaching fixer for the color sensitive materials developing and processing, and applied as dyeing and printing auxiliary, fiber treatment additives, cosmetics additives, anticoagulant, complexing agent, detergent, stabilizer, synthetic rubber, polymerization initiator and heavy metal quantitative analytical reagent.

Usage:

1. Micronutrient Delivery: EDTA is used to chelate micronutrients like iron, manganese, zinc, and copper, making them more available to plants. This enhances nutrient uptake, especially in soils with high pH where these nutrients are less available.

2. Fertilizer Additive: It’s added to fertilizers to prevent micronutrients from bonding with other elements in the soil, thereby keeping them in a form that plants can easily absorb.

Related Products

• EDTA 2Na
• EDTA 4Na
• DTPA Acid
• EDTA Fe
• EDDHA Fe

Applications

Beyond agriculture, EDTA acid has extensive industrial applications. In water treatment, it prevents scale formation and controls metal ion concentrations in boiler feed water and industrial cooling towers. The pulp and paper industry uses EDTA to sequester metal ions that catalyse peroxide decomposition during bleaching. Textile manufacturers rely on EDTA as a dyeing auxiliary that prevents calcium and magnesium ions from interfering with dye uptake. In the food industry, calcium disodium EDTA (derived from EDTA acid) is an approved preservative that prevents discolouration in processed foods and canned goods. EDTA acid is also the precursor for manufacturing all EDTA salts and chelated micronutrients, including EDTA 2Na, EDTA 4Na, EDTA Fe, EDTA Zn, EDTA Cu, EDTA Ca, EDTA Mn, and EDTA Mg.

Further reading: DTPA Acid vs EDTA: Industrial Applications Comparison

EDTA Free Acid: The Foundation of Chelation Chemistry

EDTA free acid (H₄EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is the parent compound from which all EDTA salt and chelate products are derived. As a tetraprotic acid with four carboxylic acid groups and two amine groups, it forms hexadentate complexes that simultaneously occupy six coordination sites on a metal ion — producing exceptionally stable, water-soluble metal chelates. The four protons (pKa values: 2.0, 2.67, 6.16, 10.26) are progressively displaced as pH rises, meaning chelation strength and metal selectivity can be tuned by adjusting solution pH.

Industrial Uses of EDTA Free Acid

EDTA free acid is the primary raw material in the production of all EDTA salts (disodium, tetrasodium) and metal chelates (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ca, Mg). It is used directly in the electroplating industry to prepare acidic metal-chelate plating baths where tight pH control is required. In metal recovery and hydrometallurgy, EDTA free acid selectively extracts target metals from leach solutions at controlled pH. In nuclear decontamination, it is used to remove radioactive metal deposits from reactor surfaces through acidic chelation and flushing. In pharmaceutical synthesis, EDTA free acid serves as an excipient and preservative potentiator in injectable formulations where metal-catalysed oxidation of active ingredients must be suppressed.

Handling, Solubility, and Supply

EDTA free acid has low solubility in cold water (approximately 0.5 g/100 mL at 20°C) compared to its sodium salts; solubility increases significantly with pH and temperature. It is typically handled as a dry powder and dissolved with addition of sodium hydroxide or ammonia to reach the desired salt form in-situ. Unifarm Chemical supplies EDTA free acid at ≥99% purity with low heavy metals content, supported by COA, MSDS, and method-of-analysis documentation. Standard packing is 25 kg polyethylene bags inside woven sacks. Contact us for pricing, technical specifications, and export documentation.