Editing Formic acid (section)

==History==
As early as the 15th century, some [[alchemy|alchemists]] and [[natural history|naturalists]] were aware that ant hills give off an acidic vapor. The first person to describe the isolation of this substance (by the distillation of large numbers of ants) was the English naturalist [[John Ray]], in 1671.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rstl.1670.0052 |title=Extract of a Letter, Written by Mr John Wray to the Publisher January 13. 1670. Concerning Some Un-Common Observations and Experiments Made with an Acid Juyce to be Found in Ants |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |volume=5 |issue=57–68 |pages=2063–2066 |year=1670 |last1=Wray |first1=J |bibcode=1670RSPT....5.2063W |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=i1eS9LAe3PsC&pg=PA51 | title = History of the process and present state of animal chemistry | last1 = Johnson | first1 = W. B. | year = 1803}}</ref> Ants secrete the formic acid for attack and defense purposes. Formic acid was first synthesized from [[hydrocyanic acid]] by the French chemist [[Joseph Gay-Lussac]]. In 1855, another French chemist, [[Marcellin Berthelot]], developed a synthesis from [[carbon monoxide]] similar to the process used today.<ref name="Monarch">{{cite web|url=https://www.monarchchemicals.co.uk/Information/News-Events/962-/What-is-Formic-Acid|title=What is Formic Acid?|website=Monarch Chemicals|access-date=15 April 2025}}</ref>

Formic acid was long considered a [[chemical compound]] of only minor interest in the chemical industry. In the late 1960s, significant quantities became available as a byproduct of [[acetic acid]] production. It now finds increasing use as a preservative and antibacterial in [[livestock]] feed.<ref name="Monarch"/>