Hydroxide
Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, a ligand, a nucleophile, and a catalyst. The hydroxide ion forms salts, some of which dissociate in aqueous solution, liberating solvated hydroxide ions. Sodium hydroxide is a multi-million-ton per annum commodity chemical. A hydroxide attached to a strongly electropositive center may itself ionize, liberating a hydrogen cation (H), making the parent compound an acid.
Acetate
When part of a salt, the formula of the acetate ion is written as , , or . Chemists often represent acetate as OAc or, less commonly, AcO. Thus, HOAc is the symbol for acetic acid, NaOAc for sodium acetate, and EtOAc for ethyl acetate. The pseudoelement symbol "Ac" is also sometimes encountered in chemical formulas as indicating the entire acetate ion (CHCO), or the acetyl group (CHCO). It is not to be confused with the symbol of actinium, the first element of the actinide series; context guides disambiguation. For example, the formula for sodium acetate might be abbreviated as "NaAc", rather than "NaCHO". Care should also be taken to avoid confusion with peracetic acid when using the OAc abbreviation; for clarity and to avoid errors when translated, HOAc should be avoided in literature mentioning both compounds.