2023-02-08 Formic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid. Its discovery in the distillation products of ants is usually attributed to English scientist John Gray in 1671. Formic acid is also a major byproduct of acetic acid manufacture.Formic acid has a wide range of uses: in leather tanning, as a decalcifier and cleaning product, as a chemical reducing agent, as a preservative in animal feeds, and for manufacturing its salts and esters.