osmium tetroxide
osmium tetroxide
nounDefinition 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
