Common Acronyms

Here shall be an alphabetically sorted collection of commonly used acronyms (NOT chemical formulas) and slang prevalent on ScienceMadness and in the indiechem community.

A

AA—"Acetic acid" or "Acetic anhydride", more often AA is used for acetic acid, and if both compounds are present in a text, use the Ac2O abbreviation (see below) for acetic anhydride to avoid any confusion between the compounds

Ac—"Acetate"

Ac2O—"Acetic anhydride", best to use this abbreviation if the text also mentions glacial acetic acid to avoid confusion

AgNTz—"Silver nitrotetrazole"

AHA—"Alpha Hydroxy Acid"

Amateur Chemistry—Those studying of chemistry as a hobby, usually at home.

AN—"Ammonium nitrate"

AP—"Ammonium perchlorate", sometimes also "acetone peroxide"

AQBC—"Aminoguanidine bicarbonate", see: Guanidine

ASA—"Acetylsalicylic acid"

ATz, sometimes 5-ATz, "5-Aminotetrazole"

B

BDZ—"Benzodiazepine"

BHT—"Butylated hydroxy toluene"

Bn—"Benzyl"

BP—"Boiling point"

Bz—"Benzoyl"

C

CA—"Cyanuric acid"

CHP—"Copper hexamine perchlorate", a complex salt of copper(II)-, hexamine and perchlorate-ions. Term coined by Dr. Liptakov.

COPAE - "The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives" by Tenney L. Davis (Book)

D

D—"Dextro" (derived from Latin "dexter", right)

DBX-1—"Copper(I) 5‐nitrotetrazolate", sometimes called "CuNTz" (this however is more of an inside joke by Tdep)

DCCA—"(Sodium) dichloroisocyanurate", similar to TCCA

DCM—"Dichloromethane"

DDT—"Deflagration to detonation transition" OR "Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane"

DMF—"Dimethylformamide"

DMSO—"Dimethyl sulfoxide"

DNA—"Deoxyribonucleic acid"

DNP—"Dinitrophenol"

E

EGDN—"Ethylene glycol dinitrate"

EM—"Energetic Materials"

Et—"Ethyl"

ETN—"Erythritol tetranitrate"

F

FP—"Freezing point"

G

GC—"Gun Cotton". See Nitrocellulose

Gdm—"Guanidinium"

Gdn or Gu—"Guanidine"

H

HMTD—"Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine"

HMX—"High Melting Explosive", also known as "octogen"

I

ICP-AES—"Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy"

ICP-MS—"Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry"

IDLH—"Immediately dangerous to life or health"

Indiechem—"Indie Chemistry;" another term for "amateur chemistry," coined by Texium

IPA—"Isopropyl alcohol"

ISA—"Ionic Strength Adjuster"

IUPAC—"International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry"

J

JCS—"Journal of the Chemical Society"

K

Kewls

L

L—"Levo" (from Latin "laevo", left)

LD—"Lethal dose"

LDPE—"Low Density Polyethylene"

LOX—"Liquid oxygen"

M

m—"Meta"

Me—"Methyl"

MEK—"Methyl ethyl ketone"

MEKP—"Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide"

MHN—"Mannitol hexanitrate"

MMH—"Monomethyl hydrazine"

MN—"Methyl nitrate"

MO—"Metal oxide" or "Molecular orbital"

MP—"Melting point"

N

NaNTz—"Sodium nitrotetrazole"

NC—"Nitrocellulose"

Na-DCCA or NaDCCA—"Sodium dichloroisocyanurate"

NG—"Nitroglycerin"

NIBGT—"Nitroisobutylglycerol Trinitrate"

NM—"Nitromethane"

NMP—"N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone"

NQ—"Nitroguanidine"

O

o—"Ortho"

OB or OB%—"Oxygen balance"

ON—"Oxygen number"

OXY—"Oxygen"

P

p—"Para"

P2P—"Phenylacetone"

PAH—"Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon"

PC—"Propylene carbonate"

PCB—"Polychlorinated biphenyl"

PEG—"Polyethylene glycol"

PEL—"Permissible Exposure Limit"

PETN—"Pentaerythritol tetranitrate"

PET, PETE, PETP or PET-P—"Polyethylene Terephtalate"

PG—"Propylene glycol"

PLX—"Picatinny Liquid eXplosive"

PMMA—"Poly(methyl methacrylate)"

PO—"Propylene oxide"

PP—"Polypropylene"

PPG—"Polypropylene glycol"

PVC—"Polyvinyl chloride"

Q

QLL—"Quasi-Liquid Layer"

R

R—"Rectus" (Latin, right), stereochemical descriptor of absolute configuration

RDX—"Research Department eXplosive" or "Research Department Formula X"

RFNA—"Red fuming nitric acid", very concentrated nitric acid with a lot of NOx dissolved in it, which gives the acid a reddish color.

RNA—"RiboNucleic Acid"

RT—"Room Temperature"

S

S—"Sinister" (Latin, left), stereochemical descriptor of absolute configuration

SA—"Salicylic acid" or "sulfuric acid"

SADS—"Silver Acetylide Double Salt"

STP—"Standard Temperature and Pressure"

T

TATP—"Triacetone triperoxide." See: acetone peroxide

TACP or TACPs—"Tetraaminecopper(II) persulphate"

TACN—"Tetraaminecopper(II) nitrate"

TCCA—"Trichloroisocyanuric acid"

TDS—"Totally Dissolved Solids"

TFA—"Trifluoroacetic acid"

THF—"Tetrahydrofuran"

TNP—"Trinitrophenol" See: Picric acid

TNT—"Trinitrotoluene"

TNX—"Trinitroxylene"

U

UHP—"Ultra High Pressure" or "Ultra-High Purity"

UTFSE— "Use the f***ing search engine," generally used when the answer can be found quite easily with a simple search.

UV—"Ultraviolet"

V

VHP—"Very High Pressure"

VOC—"Volatile Organic Compound"

VP—"Vapor Pressure"

W

Whimsy— a subsection of the Science Madness forum dedicated to subjects unrelated to chemistry or indiechem.

WFNA—"White fuming nitric acid", very concentrated nitric acid with little to no NOx contamination.

WP—"White Phosphorus" (or "Willie Pete" in military slag)

X

XAN—"Xanthine"

XPS—"X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy"

Y

YBCO—"Yttrium barium copper oxide"

Z

ZAMAC or ZAMAK—"Zinc Aluminum Magnesium and Copper"

References

Relevant Sciencemadness threads

• Nomenclature - group abbreviations