What is "lead acetate"

n. a poisonous white solid (Pb[CH3CO]2) used in dyeing cotton and in making enamels and varnishes [syn: sugar of lead]

Lead acetate can refer to:

• Lead(IV) acetate (plumbic acetate), Pb(CHCOO)
• Lead(II) acetate (lead diacetate), Pb(CHCOO)

Lead(II) acetate (Pb(CHCOO)), also known as lead acetate, lead diacetate, plumbous acetate, sugar of lead, lead sugar, salt of Saturn, and Goulard's powder, is a white crystalline chemical compound with a sweetish taste. It is made by treating lead(II) oxide with acetic acid. Like other lead compounds, it is toxic. Lead acetate is soluble in water and glycerin. With water it forms the trihydrate, Pb(CHCOO)·3HO, a colourless or white efflorescent monoclinic crystalline substance.

The substance is used as a reagent to make other lead compounds and as a fixative for some dyes. In low concentrations, it is the principal active ingredient in progressive types of hair colouring dyes. Lead(II) acetate is also used as a mordant in textile printing and dyeing, as a drier in paints and varnishes, and in preparing other lead compounds. It was historically used as a sweetener and for cosmetics.

Lead(IV) acetate or lead tetraacetate is a chemical compound with chemical formula Pb(CHO) and is a lead salt of acetic acid. It is commercially available often stabilized with acetic acid.