List of alchemical substances

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.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Aqua Fortis – 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/Spirit of Wine – ethanol, formed by distilling wine[1]
  • Azoth - initially this referred to a supposed universal solvent but later became another name for Mercury
  • Bismuth (German: Wismuth)
  • Bitumen - highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum
  • Blende
  • Blue Vitriol/Bluestone – A mineral; copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate.
  • Brimstone – sulfur
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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 Yellow – 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.
  • Corrosive sublimate – mercuric chloride, formed by subliming mercury, calcined green vitriol, common salt, and nitre
  • 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. SbO3
  • Fool's gold – a mineral, iron disulfide or pyrite; can form oil of vitriol on contact with water and air.
  • Fulminating silver – silver nitride, formed by dissolving silver(I) oxide in ammonia. Very explosive when dry.
  • Fulminating gold – gold hydrazide, formed by adding ammonia to the auric hydroxide. When dry, can explode on concussion.
  • Fulminating gold – 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.
  • Glauber's Salt – sodium sulfate. Na2SO4
  • Green Vitriol – a mineral; iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate. (or ferrous sulfate)
  • Marcasite – a mineral; iron disulfide. In moist air it turns into green vitriol, FeSO4.
  • Rouge/Crocus/Colcothar – ferric oxide, formed by burning green vitriol in air
  • Gum Arabic – gum from the acacia tree
  • 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
  • Liver of sulfur – formed by fusing 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/Salt of tartar – potassium carbonate, formed by evaporating lye. K2CO3
  • Pearlash – formed by baking potash in a kiln
  • 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
  • Milk of Sulfur (lac sulphuris) – formed by adding an acid to thion hudor (lime sulfur)
  • Mosaic gold – stannic sulfide, formed by heating a mixture of tin filings, sulfur, and sal-ammoniac
  • Natron/Soda Ash/Soda – sodium carbonate, Na2CO3
  • Nitrum Flammans – ammonium nitrate
  • 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
  • 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 – antimonious 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
  • Quicksilver - Mercury
  • Realgar – arsenic disulfide, an ore of arsenic
  • Red Vitriol - cobalt sulfate[2]
  • Regulus of antimony
  • Resin of copper – copper(I) chloride (cuprous chloride), formed by heating copper with corrosive sublimate
  • 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 Hartshorn/Sal Volatile – ammonium carbonate formed by distilling bones and horns
  • Spirit of box/Pyroxylic spirit – methanol, CH3OH, distilled wood alcohol
  • 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
  • Spiritus fumans – stannic chloride, formed by distilling tin with corrosive sublimate
  • Stibnite – antimony or antimony trisulfide, ore of antimony
  • Sugar of Lead – lead(II) acetate, formed by dissolving lead oxide in vinegar
  • Sweet Vitriol – diethyl ether. It could be made by mixing oil of vitriol with spirit of wine and heating it.[3]
  • Thion Hudor – lime sulfur, formed by boiling flowers of sulfur with slaked lime
  • 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 subliminating 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)
  • White vitriol – zinc sulfate, formed by lixiviating roasted zinc blende
  • 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

References
  1. Gray, Theodore (2014). Molecules. 151 West 19th Street New York, NY 10011: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 27–31. ISBN 978-1-60376-396-7.CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. https://www.britannica.com/science/vitriol
  3. Gray, Theodore (2014). Molecules. 151 West 19th Street New York, NY 10011: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 27–31. ISBN 978-1-60376-396-7.CS1 maint: location (link)
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