Rediscovering Pyrotartaric Acid: A Chemical Interpretation of the Volatile Salt of Tartar (2015)
Pyrolysis, the action of heat on organic substances in anaerobic conditions, has been one of the earliest not only analytical but also synthetic methods both in alchemy and chemistry. Applied to carboxylic acids this process allowed the preparation of a variety of chemicals, of which acetone is the best known example. But the nature of a product obtained from tartar, the volatile salt of tartar, generated a great deal of controversy among practitioners of alchemy because of its claimed involvement in the preparation of Paracelsus’ alkahest. In this article the identification of volatile salt of tartar with pyrotartaric acid is suggested, by tracing the most relevant studies on the pyrolysis of tartar from alchemy to modern chemistry.
...MoreArticle Behrman, E. J.; Guido Panzarasa (2016) Comment and Response: Rediscovering Pyrotartaric Acid. Bulletin for the History of Chemistry (p. 74).
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