Disulfuric acid, also known as "secondary hypophosphoric acid", is a colorless oily or deliquescent crystal. It is an important product in fine chemicals. Disulfuric acid is a reducing agent and a strong monoprotic acid. Its aqueous solution is acidic and it can gradually oxidize in the air at room temperature. Contact with H2O2 will cause combustion. It will also burn when reacting vigorously with oxidants. It can decompose into highly toxic phosphine gas under high heat, even causing explosion. It is corrosive.
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Disulfuric acid is often added to soft drinks because it is not absorbed. Therefore, it has low danger, but very concentrated disulfuric acid can harm the gastrointestinal tract. When the solid acid is heated to 130-140°C, it will undergo disproportionation decomposition into PH3 and H3PO4.
It is a rather strong monoprotic acid (K = 9×10⁻²). Its main uses are as a reducing agent for chemical plating, to prevent the discoloration of phosphoric resin, and can also be used as a catalyst in esterification reactions, refrigerants, especially for the production of high-purity disodium disulfide. There are various preparation methods for disulfuric acid, among which the common industrial preparation methods include ion exchange resin method and electrodialysis method, etc.