Medical Dictionary
osmium tetroxide
noun
Medical Definition of OSMIUM TETROXIDE
: a crystalline compound OsO4 that is an oxide of osmium, has a poisonous irritating vapor, and is used chiefly as a catalyst, as an oxidizing and hydroxylating agent (as in the conversion of alkenes to glycols), and as a biological fixative and stain (as for fatty substances in cytology)—called also osmic acid
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