cacodylic acid

noun

cac·​o·​dyl·​ic acid ˌka-kə-ˈdi-lik- 

: a toxic crystalline compound of arsenic C₂H₇AsO₂ used especially as an herbicide

Examples of cacodylic acid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Rice is often grown in fields formerly used for cotton, whose production involved spraying with cacodylic acid (the dimethyl arsenic compound) to kill boll weevil pests, and then with arsenic acid to kill and desiccate the plant prior to mechanical harvesting. —Julian Tyson, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2015

Word History

Etymology

German Kakodyl, the radical (CH₃)₂As + -ic entry 1; Kakodyl from Greek kakṓdēs "foul-smelling" (from kakós "bad, ill, foul" + -ōdēs "having a given smell," adjective derivative from od-, the base of ózein "to smell, give off odor") + German -yl -yl — more at caco-, odor

Note: According to Jöns Jakob berzelius, he suggested the name Kakodyl to the chemist Robert bunsen, who was investigating it, because of "the extremely repellent smell of all of its compounds" ("… für welche ich Bunsen den Namen Kakodyl vorschlug, in Bezug auf den höchst wiedrigen Geruch aller seiner Verbindungen" - Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der physischen Wissenschaften von Jacob Berzelius, 20. Jahrgang [1841], p. 527).

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cacodylic acid

noun

cac·​o·​dyl·​ic acid ˌkak-ə-ˌdil-ik- 

: a toxic crystalline compound of arsenic C₂H₇AsO₂ used especially as an herbicide