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nitrate
nitrate Cerium ammonium nitrate.

nitrate

chemical compound
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nitrate, any member of either of two classes of compounds derived from nitric acid, HNO3. The salts of nitric acid are ionic compounds containing the nitrate ion, NO-3, and a positive ion, such as NH4+ in ammonium nitrate. Esters of nitric acid are covalent compounds having the structure R―O―NO2, in which R represents an organic combining group, such as ethyl (C2H5) in ethyl nitrate. See also nitro compound.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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