Rediscovering pyrotartaric acid: A chemical interpretation of the volatile salt of tartar

Panzarasa, Guido

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127909 Copy

Description

Title

Rediscovering pyrotartaric acid: A chemical interpretation of the volatile salt of tartar

Author(s)

Panzarasa, Guido

Issue Date

2015-03-15

Keyword(s)

• History
• Chemistry

Abstract

Pyrolysis, the action of heat on org. substances in anaerobic conditions, has been one of the earliest not only anal. but also synthetic methods both in alchemy and chem. Applied to carboxylic acids this process allowed the prepn. of a variety of chems., 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 prepn. 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 chem.

Publisher

Division of the History of Chemistry

ISSN

1053-4385

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

article

Language

eng

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127909

DOI

https://doi.org/10.70359/bhc2015v040p001

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2015 Division of the History of Chemistry

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