Fulminate

<h2 id="historical-notes">Historical notes</h2>
<p>Fulminates were discovered by <a href="/facts/Edward_Charles_Howard/sPS4gu73">Edward Charles Howard</a> in 1800.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The use of fulminates for firearms was first demonstrated by a Scottish minister, <a href="/facts/Alexander_John_Forsyth/Rq7PM5Ut">Alexander John Forsyth</a>, who patented his scent-bottle lock in 1807; this was a small container filled with <a href="/facts/Fulminate_of_mercury/tYFQEUkz">fulminate of mercury</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Joshua Shaw determined how to encapsulate them in metal to form a <a href="/facts/Percussion_cap/kvj5E8ac">percussion cap</a>, but did not patent his invention until 1822.
</p><p>In the 1820s, the organic chemist <a href="/facts/Justus_Liebig/0vKzMlDA">Justus Liebig</a> discovered <a href="/facts/Silver_fulminate/T0mnY0cI">silver fulminate</a> (AgCNO) and <a href="/facts/Friedrich_W%C3%B6hler/D7uh7ySD">Friedrich Wöhler</a> discovered <a href="/facts/Silver_cyanate/AS1dBK0K">silver cyanate</a> (AgOCN). They have different properties but the same <a href="/facts/Chemical_composition/vjo4uMQ0">chemical composition</a>, which led to a bitter dispute finally resolved by <a href="/facts/J%C3%B6ns_Jakob_Berzelius/HakSv3sP">Jöns Jakob Berzelius</a> through the concept of <a href="/facts/Isomer/PXlvDVdg">isomers</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="compounds">Compounds</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Fulminic_acid/jpcKjP0t">Fulminic acid</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Mercury(II)_fulminate/tYFQEUkz">Mercury(II) fulminate</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Potassium_fulminate/3MQR3egx">Potassium fulminate</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Silver_fulminate/T0mnY0cI">Silver fulminate</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

Look up <i>fulminate</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<ul><li>The <a href="/facts/Cyanate/EcDWGQQh">cyanate</a> (-OCN) and <a href="/facts/Isocyanate/YYDoDBgp">isocyanate</a> (-NCO) groups have a related structure.</li>
<li>The <a href="/facts/Nitrile/Gz7RCnC6">nitrile</a> (-CN) and <a href="/facts/Isocyanide/VmkIBMKR">isocyanide</a> (-NC) groups.</li>
<li>The functional group fulminate (-ONC) corresponds to the fulminate ion; if the organic bond is at the other end, the <a href="/facts/Nitrile_oxide/Gz7RCnC6">nitrile oxide</a> (-CNO) functional group is obtained instead.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Internal_ballistics/zynpU5yg">Internal ballistics</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>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. <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London" target="_blank">/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>F. Kurzer (1999). "The Life and Work of Edward Charles Howard". Annals of Science. 56 (2): 113–141. doi:10.1080/000337999296445. <a href="/wiki/Annals_of_Science" target="_blank">/wiki/Annals_of_Science</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Edward Charles Howard (1774-1816), Scientist and sugar refiner". National Portrait Gallery. 2005-01-05. Archived from the original on 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2006-08-30. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060925001812/http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp02292" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20060925001812/http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp02292</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Alexander Forsyth in Encyclopædia Britannica <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/214047/Alexander-John-Forsyth" target="_blank">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/214047/Alexander-John-Forsyth</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Rifled Breech Loader". Globalsecurity.org. <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/rifle-history.htm" target="_blank">http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/rifle-history.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Greenberg, Arthur (2000). A Chemical History Tour. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 198–203. ISBN 0-471-35408-2. <a href="0-471-35408-2" target="_blank">0-471-35408-2</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Fulminate open-in-new

Fulminate