Osmium tetroxide is widely used to oxidise alkenes to the vicinal diols, adding two hydroxyl groups at the same side (syn addition). It is also used in catalytic amounts in the Sharpless oxyamination to give vicinal amino-alcohols. Osmium tetroxide is also a widely used staining agent used in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to provide contrast to the image.
O 1345 (OTTO) Osmic acid, 99.9% Cas 20816-12-0 - used oxidizer for visualizing cells in microscopy. Promotes oxidative cleavage of graphene layers in carbon nanotubes creating the possibility of opening ′windows′ in fullerene cages. A hydroxyl-donating compound for chemical synthesis