List of alchemical substances

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Alchemical studies produced a number of substances, which were later classified as particular chemical compounds or mixtures of compounds.

Many of these terms were in common use into the 20th century.

## Metals and metalloids

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Further information: Metals of antiquity

* Antimony/Stibnium – Sb
* Bismuth (German: Wismuth) – Bi
* Copper/Cuprum – associated with Venus. Cu
* Gold/Aurum – associated with the Sun. Au
* Iron/Ferrum – associated with Mars. Fe
* Lead/Plumbum – associated with Saturn. Pb
* Quicksilver/Hydrargyrum – associated with Mercury. Hg
* Silver/Argentum – associated with the Moon. Ag
* Tin/Stannum – associated with Jupiter. Sn

## Minerals, stones, and pigments

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* Bluestone – mineral form of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, also called blue vitriol.
* Borax – sodium borate; was also used to refer to other related minerals.
* Cadmia/tuttia/tutty – probably zinc carbonate.
* Calamine – zinc carbonate.
* Calomel/horn quicksilver/horn mercury – mercury(I) chloride, a very poisonous purgative formed by subliming a mixture of mercuric chloride and metallic mercury, triturated in a mortar and heated in an iron pot. The crust formed on the lid was ground to powder and boiled with water to remove the calomel.
* Calx – calcium oxide; was also used to refer to other metal oxides.
* Chalcanthum – the residue produced by strongly roasting blue vitriol (copper sulfate); it is composed mostly of cupric oxide.
* Chalk – a rock composed of porous biogenic calcium carbonate. CaCO3
* Chrome green – chromic oxide and cobalt oxide.
* Chrome orange – chrome yellow and chrome red.
* Chrome red – basic lead chromate – PbCrO4+PbO
* Chrome yellow/Paris yellow/Leipzig yello – lead chromate, PbCrO4
* Cinnabar/vermilion – refers to several substances, among them: mercury(II) sulfide (HgS), or native vermilion (the common ore of mercury).
* Copper Glance – copper(I) sulfide ore.
* Cuprite – copper(I) oxide ore.
* Dutch White – a pigment, formed from one part of white lead to three of barium sulfate. BaSO4
* Flowers of antimony – antimony trioxide, formed by roasting stibnite at high temperature and condensing the white fumes that form. Sb2O3
* Fool's gold – a mineral, iron disulfide or pyrite; can form oil of vitriol on contact with water and air.
* Fulminating silver – principally, silver nitride, formed by dissolving silver(I) oxide in ammonia. Very explosive when dry.
* Fulminating gold – a number of gold based explosives which "fulminate", or detonate easily.
* – gold hydrazide, formed by adding ammonia to the auric hydroxide. When dry, can explode on concussion.
* – an unstable gold carbonate formed by precipitation by potash from gold dissolved in aqua regia.
* Galena – lead(II) sulfide. Lead ore.
* Glass of antimony – impure antimony tetroxide, SbO4 formed by roasting stibnite. A yellow pigment for glass and porcelain.
* Gypsum – a mineral; calcium sulfate. CaSO4
* Horn silver/argentum cornu – a weathered form of chlorargyrite, an ore of silver chloride.

* Luna cornea – silver chloride, formed by heating horn silver till it liquefies and then cooling.

* King's yellow – formed by mixing orpiment with white arsenic.
* Lapis solaris (Bologna stone) – barium sulfide – 1603, Vincenzo Cascariolo.
* Lead fume – lead oxide, found in flues at lead smelters.
* Lime/quicklime (burnt lime)/calx viva/unslaked lime – calcium oxide, formed by calcining limestone

* Slaked lime – calcium hydroxide. Ca(OH)2

* Marcasite – a mineral; iron disulfide. In moist air it turns into green vitriol, FeSO4.
* Massicot – lead monoxide. PbO

* Litharge – lead monoxide, formed by fusing and powdering massicot.
* Minium/red lead – trilead tetroxide, Pb3O4; formed by roasting litharge in air.
* Naples yellow/cassel yellow – oxychloride of lead, formed by heating litharge with sal ammoniac.

* Mercurius praecipitatus – red mercuric oxide.
* Mosaic gold – stannic sulfide, formed by heating a mixture of tin filings, sulfur, and sal-ammoniac.
* Orpiment – arsenic trisulfide, an ore of arsenic.
* Pearl white – bismuth nitrate, BiNO3
* Philosophers' wool/nix alba (white snow)/Zinc White – zinc oxide, formed by burning zinc in air, used as a pigment
* Plumbago – a mineral, graphite; not discovered in pure form until 1564
* Powder of Algaroth – antimony oxychloride, formed by precipitation when a solution of butter of antimony and spirit of salt is poured into water.
* Purple of Cassius – formed by precipitating a mixture of gold, stannous and stannic chlorides, with alkali. Used for glass coloring
* Realgar – arsenic disulfide, an ore of arsenic.
* Regulus of antimony
* Resin of copper – copper(I) chloride (cuprous chloride), formed by heating copper with corrosive sublimate.
* Rouge/crocus/colcothar – ferric oxide, formed by burning green vitriol in air.
* Stibnite – antimony or antimony trisulfide, ore of antimony.
* Turpeth mineral – hydrolysed form of mercury(II) sulfate.
* Verdigris – Carbonate of Copper or (more recently) copper(II) acetate. The carbonate is formed by weathering copper. The acetate is formed by vinegar acting on copper. One version was used as a green pigment.
* White arsenic – arsenious oxide, formed by sublimating arsenical soot from the roasting ovens.
* White lead – carbonate of lead, a toxic pigment, produced by corroding stacks of lead plates with dilute vinegar beneath a heap of moistened wood shavings. (replaced by blanc fixe & lithopone)
* Venetian white – formed from equal parts of white lead and barium sulfate.
* Zaffre – impure cobalt arsenate, formed after roasting cobalt ore.
* Zinc blende – zinc sulfide.

## Salts

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* Glauber's salt – sodium sulfate. Na2SO4
* Sal alembroth – salt composed of chlorides of ammonium and mercury.
* Sal ammoniac – ammonium chloride.
* Sal petrae (Med. Latin: "stone salt")/salt of petra/saltpetre/nitrate of potash – potassium nitrate, KNO3, typically mined from covered dungheaps.
* Salt/common salt – a mineral, sodium chloride, NaCl, formed by evaporating seawater (impure form).
* Salt of tartar – potassium carbonate; also called potash.
* Salt of hartshorn/sal volatile – ammonium carbonate formed by distilling bones and horns.
* Tin salt – hydrated stannous chloride; see also spiritus fumans, another chloride of tin.

## Vitriols

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* Blue vitriol – copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate.
* Green vitriol – a mineral; iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate. (or ferrous sulfate)
* Red vitriol \- cobalt sulfate.[1]
* Sweet vitriol – diethyl ether. It could be made by mixing oil of vitriol with spirit of wine and heating it.[2]
* White vitriol – zinc sulfate, formed by lixiviating roasted zinc blende.

## Waters, oils and spirits

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* Aqua fortis/spirit of nitre – nitric acid, formed by 2 parts saltpetre in 1 part (pure) oil of vitriol (sulfuric acid). (Historically, this process could not have been used, as 98% oil of vitriol was not available.)
* Aqua ragia/spirit of turpentine/oil of turpentine/gum turpentine – turpentine, formed by the distillation of pine tree resin.
* Aqua regia (Latin: "royal water") – a mixture of aqua fortis and spirit of salt.
* Aqua tofani – arsenic trioxide, As2O3 (extremely poisonous)
* Aqua vitae/aqua vita/spirit of wine, ardent spirits – ethanol, formed by distilling wine[2]
* Butter (or oil) of antimony – antimony trichloride. Formed by distilling roasted stibnite with corrosive sublimate, or dissolving stibnite in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid and distilling. SbCl3
* Butter of tin – hydrated tin(IV) chloride; see also spiritus fumans, another chloride of tin.
* Oil of tartar – concentrated potassium carbonate, K2CO3 solution
* Oil of tartar per deliquium – potassium carbonate dissolved in the water which its extracts from the air.
* Oil of vitriol/spirit of vitriol – sulfuric acid, a weak version can be formed by heating green vitriol and blue vitriol. H2SO4
* Spirit of box/pyroxylic spirit – methanol, CH3OH, distilled wood alcohol.
* Spiritus fumans – stannic chloride, formed by distilling tin with corrosive sublimate.
* Spirit of hartshorn – ammonia, formed by the decomposition of sal-ammoniac by unslaked lime.
* Spirit of salt/acidum salis – the liquid form of hydrochloric acid (also called muriatic acid), formed by mixing common salt with oil of vitriol.

* Marine acid air – gaseous form of hydrochloric acid.

## Others

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* Alkahest – universal solvent.
* Azoth – initially this referred to a supposed universal solvent but later became another name for Mercury.
* Bitumen – highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum.
* Blende
* Brimstone – sulfur

* Flowers of sulfur – formed by distilling sulfur.

* Caustic potash/caustic wood alkali – potassium hydroxide, formed by adding lime to potash.
* Caustic Soda/caustic marine alkali – sodium hydroxide, NaOH, formed by adding lime to natron.
* Caustic volatile alkali – ammonium hydroxide.
* Corrosive sublimate – mercuric chloride, formed by subliming mercury, calcined green vitriol, common salt, and nitre.
* Gum Arabic – gum from the acacia tree.
* Liver of sulfur – formed by fusing[clarification needed] potash and sulfur.
* Lunar caustic/lapis infernalis – silver nitrate, formed by dissolving silver in aqua fortis and evaporating.
* Lye – potash in a water solution, formed by leaching wood ashes.

* Potash – potassium carbonate, formed by evaporating lye; also called salt of tartar. K2CO3
* Pearlash – formed by baking potash in a kiln.

* Milk of sulfur (lac sulphuris) – formed by adding an acid to thion hudor (lime sulfur).
* Natron/soda ash/soda – sodium carbonate. Na2CO3
* Nitrum flammans – ammonium nitrate.
* Sugar of lead – lead(II) acetate, formed by dissolving lead oxide in vinegar.
* Thion hudor – lime sulfur, formed by boiling flowers of sulfur with slaked lime.

## See also

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* Alchemical symbol
* List of alchemists

## References

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1. ^ "Vitriol | chemical compound | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 18 August 2023.
2. ^ a b Gray, Theodore (2014). Molecules. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 27–31. ISBN 978-1-60376-396-7.

## External links

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* Eklund, Jon (1975). The Incompleat Chymist: Being an Essay on the Eighteenth-Century Chemist in His Laboratory, with a Dictionary of Obsolete Chemical Terms of the Period (Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, Number 33). Smithsonian Institute Press.
* Giunta, Carmen. Glossary of Archaic Chemical Terms: Introduction and Part I (A-B). Classic Chemistry.
* Giunta, Carmen. A Dictionary of the New Chymical Nomenclature. Classic Chemistry. Based on Guyton de Morveau, Louis Bernard; Lavoisier, Antoine; Bertholet, Claude-Louis; Fourcroy, Antoine-François de (1788) [1787]. Method of Chymical Nomenclature. Translated by St. John, James. pp. 105-176.

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