[7] Older routes to NTA included alkylation of ammonia with chloroacetic acid and oxidation of triethanolamine.

The conjugate base of NTA is a tripodal tetradentate trianionic ligand, forming coordination compounds with a variety of metal ions.

In one application, sodium NTA removes Cr, Cu, and As from wood that had been treated with chromated copper arsenate.

[12] For laboratory uses, Ernst Hochuli et al. (1987) coupled the NTA ligand and nickel ions to agarose beads.

Despite widespread use in cleaning products, the concentration in the water supply is too low to have a sizeable impact on human health or environmental quality.