What is "isocyanic acid"

Isocyanic \I`so*cy*an"ic\, a. [Iso- + cyanic.] (Chem.) Designating an acid isomeric with cyanic acid.

Isocyanic acid, an acid metameric with cyanic acid, and resembling it in its salts. It is obtained as a colorless, mobile, unstable liquid by the heating cyanuric acid. Called technically carbimide.

n. (context inorganic compound English) The unstable compound H-N=C=O that is metameric with cyanic acid

n. an acid known only in the form of its esters

Isocyanic acid is an organic compound with the formula HNCO, discovered in 1830 by Liebig and Wöhler. This colourless substance is volatile and poisonous, with a boiling point of 23.5 °C. Isocyanic acid is the simplest stable chemical compound that contains carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, the four most commonly found elements in organic chemistry and biology.