Formhydroxamic acid

Fulminic acid can be regarded as the simplest oxime. A number of compounds with an oxime group C=NOH can form salts which possess initiating properties, for example salts of nitroformoxime (methylnitrolic acid) (I) which can be obtained in a known way by the action of nitrous acid on nitromethane. Salts of form-hydroxamic acid (II), particularly the mercuric salt, also possess initiating properties [66]. Formhydroxamic acid can be obtained by the action of hydroxylamine on formic acid esters or by oxidation of methylamine. 

E. C. C. Baly and co-workers 2 showed that soln. of nitrates and carbonic acid are respectively converted into nitrite and formaldehyde in ultra-violet light, and these products then react to form formhydroxamic acid this acid then combines with more photosynthesized formaldehyde to give a variety of products —e.g. glyoxaline, free and substituted a-amino-acids, and substances of an alkaloidal nature. Methylamine and pyridine are produced by the action of... 

Unfortunately, the yield of MF is too low (only about 5 %) because the majority of the mercuric salt of nitromethane is converted into a basic mercury salt of formhydroxamic acid (also an explosive). This mercury salt cannot be converted into MF [2]. The nitromethane itself can also be converted into fulminic acid by nitrosation with nitrous acid to form nitroformaldehyde oxime. It further decomposes (by heating in water or nitric acid) to fulminic acid which is trapped with mercury nitrate as mercury fulminate [2]. 

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