Fulminates are chemical compounds which include the fulminate ion. The fulminate ion is a pseudohalic ion, acting like a halogen with its charge and reactivity. Due to the instability of the ion, they are friction-sensitive explosives. The best known is mercury fulminate which has been used as a primary explosive in detonators. Fulminates can be formed from metals, like silver and mercury, dissolved in nitric acid and reacted with alcohol. The chemical formula for the fulminate ion is O−N+C−. It is largely the presence of the weak single nitrogen-oxygen bond which leads to its instability. Nitrogen very easily forms a stable triple bond to another nitrogen atom, forming gaseous nitrogen.
Historical notes
Fulminates were discovered by Edward Charles Howard in 1800.[1][2][3]. Their use in firearms in a fulminating powder was first demonstrated by a Scottish minister, A. J. Forsyth, who was granted a patent in 1807[4]. Joshua Shaw then made the transition to their use in metallic encapsulations, to form a percussion cap, but did not patent his invention until 1822.
In the 1820s, the organic chemist Justus Liebig discovered silver fulminate (Ag-CNO) and Friedrich Wöhler discovered silver cyanate (Ag-OCN). The fact that these substances have the same chemical composition led to an acrid dispute, which was not resolved until Jöns Jakob Berzelius came up with the concept of isomers[5].
Compounds
References
- ^ Edward Howard (1800). "On a New Fulminating Mercury". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 90 (1): 204–238. doi:10.1098/rstl.1800.0012.
- ^ F. Kurzer (1999). "The Life and Work of Edward Charles Howard". Annals of Science 56: 113–141. doi:10.1080/000337999296445.
- ^ "Edward Charles Howard (1774-1816), Scientist and sugar refiner publisher = National Portrain Gallery" (2005-01-05). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
- ^ "Rifled Breach Loader". Globalsecurity.org.
- ^ Greenberg, Arthur (2000). A Chemical History Tour. John Wiley & Sons, 198-203. ISBN 0-471-35408-2.
See also
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