Ammonium formate, NH4HCO2, is the ammonium salt of formic acid. It is a colorless, hygroscopic, crystalline solid. Pure ammonium formate decomposes into formamide and water when heated, and this is its primary use in industry. Formic acid can also be obtained by reacting ammonium formate with a dilute acid, and since ammonium formate is also produced from formic acid, it can serve as a way of storing formic acid.

Sodium formate can be prepared in the laboratory by neutralizing formic acid with sodium carbonate. It can also be obtained by reacting chloroform with an alcoholic solution of sodium hydroxide.

CHCl₃ + 4N_aOH ? HCOON_a + 3N_aCl + 2H₂O

or by reacting sodium hydroxide with chloral hydrate.

C₂HCl₃(OH)₂ + NaOH CHCl₃ + HCOON_a + H₂O

The latter method is generally preferred to the former because the low aqueous solubility of CHCl3 makes it easier to separate out from the sodium formate solution, by fractional crystallization, than the soluble NaCl would be

Commercially sodium formate is produced by absorbing carbon monoxide under pressure in solid sodium hydroxide at 160 ^°C

CO + N_aOH HCOON_a