Nitroxyl (common name) or
azanone (IUPAC name) is the chemical compound HNO. It is well known in the gas phase. In aqueous solution it acts as an acid with the conjugate base NO
-, (
pKa = 11.4). NO
- is the
reduced form of
nitric oxide (NO) and is
isoelectronic with
dioxygen. Nitroxyl can be formed as a reaction intermediate.
Nitroxyl is very reactive towards nucleophiles (especially
thiols) and quickly dimerizes to
hyponitrous acid, H
2N
2O
2, which is then dehydrated to
nitrous oxide N
2O. Therefore, HNO is generally prepared
in situ for example with the compounds such as
Angeli’s salt (Na
2N
2O
3) and
Piloty’s acid (PhSO
2NHOH) when it is needed.