Hydrazine dihydrochloride

Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula N2H4. It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colorless and flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odor. Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable unless handled in solution as e.g., hydrazine hydrate (NH2NH2 · xH2O). As of 2015, the world hydrazine hydrate market amounted to $350 million. Hydrazine is mainly used as a foaming agent in preparing polymer foams, but applications also include its uses as a precursor to polymerization catalysts, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals. About two million tons of hydrazine hydrate were used in foam blowing agents in 2015. Additionally, hydrazine is used in various rocket fuels and to prepare the gas precursors used in air bags. Hydrazine is used within both nuclear and conventional electrical power plant steam cycles as an oxygen scavenger to control concentrations of dissolved oxygen in an effort to reduce corrosion. Hydrazines refer to a class of organic substances derived by replacing one or more hydrogen atoms in hydrazine by an organic group. The majority use of hydrazine is as a precursor to blowing agents. Specific compounds include azodicarbonamide and azobisisobutyronitrile, which produce 100-200 mL of gas per gram of precursor. In a related application, sodium azide, the gas-forming agent in air bags, is produced from hydrazine by reaction with sodium nitrite. Hydrazine is also used as a propellant onboard space vehicles, such as the NASA Dawn probe to Ceres and Vesta, and to both reduce the concentration of dissolved oxygen in and control pH of water used in large industrial boilers. The F-16 fighter jet, NASA Space Shuttle, and U-2 spy plane use hydrazine to fuel their emergency power units. Hydrazine is a precursor to several pharmaceuticals and pesticides. Often these applications involve conversion of hydrazine to heterocyclic rings such as pyrazoles and pyridazines. Examples of commercialized bioactive hydrazine derivatives include cefazolin, rizatriptan, anastrozole, fluconazole, metazachlor, metamitron, metribuzin, paclobutrazol, diclobutrazole, propiconazole, hydrazine sulfate, diimide, triadimefon, and dibenzoylhydrazine. Hydrazine compounds can be effective as active ingredients in admixture with or in combination with other agricultural chemicals such as insecticides, miticides, nematicides, fungicides, antiviral agents, attractants, herbicides or plant growth regulators.