A colourless crystalline solid, NaH₂PO₄, which is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol, known as the monohydrate (r.d. 2.04) and the dihydrate (r.d. 1.91). The dihydrate loses one water molecule at 60°C and the second molecule of water at 100°C, followed by decomposition at 204°C. The compound may be prepared by treating sodium carbonate with an equimolar quantity of phosphoric acid or by neutralizing phosphoric acid with sodium hydroxide. It is used in the preparation of sodium phosphate (Na₃PO₄), in baking powders, as a food additive, and as a constituent of buffering systems. Both sodium dihydrogenphosphate and trisodium phosphate enriched in ³²P have been used to study phosphate participation in metabolic processes.