Formate

Structure of formate

Formate or methanoate is the ion CHOO⁻ or HCOO⁻ (formic acid minus one hydrogen ion). It is the simplest carboxylate anion. It is produced in large amounts in the hepatic (liver cells) mitochondria of embryonic cells and in cancer cells by the folate cycle (source: H Frederik Nijhout, et al, In silico experimentation with a model of hepatic mitochondrial folate metabolism, Theoretical Biology and Medical Modeling, 2006, 3:40, link http://www.tbiomed.com/content/3/1/40/abstract).

A formate (compound) is a salt or ester of formic acid.

Examples

• ethyl formate, CH₃CH₂(HCOO)
• sodium formate, Na(HCOO)
• caesium formate, Cs(HCOO); see Caesium: Petroleum exploration
• methyl formate, CH₃(HCOO)
• methyl chloroformate, CH₃OCOCl
• triethyl orthoformate
• trimethyl orthoformate, C₄H₁₀O₃