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Cadet's fuming liquid was a red-brown oily liquid prepared in 1760 by the French chemist Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt (1731-1799) by the reaction of
Cadet's fuming liquid was a red-brown oily liquid prepared in 1760 by the French chemist Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt (1731-1799) by the reaction of potassium acetate
Potassium acetate (CH3COOK) is the potassium salt of acetic acid. It is a hygroscopic solid at room temperature.
Preparation
It can be prepared by treating a potassium-containing base such as potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with acetic ...
with arsenic trioxide
Arsenic trioxide, sold under the brand name Trisenox among others, is an inorganic compound and medication. As an industrial chemical, whose major uses include in the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. As a medication, it ...
. It consisted mostly of dicacodyl (((CH3)2As)2) and cacodyl oxide
Cacodyl oxide is a chemical compound of the formula CH3)2Assub>2O. This organoarsenic compound is primarily of historical significance since it is sometimes considered to be the first organometallic compound synthesized in relatively pure form. ...
(((CH3)2As)2O).
The global reaction (mass balance) corresponding to the oxide formation is the following:
:
These were the first organometallic
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and s ...
substances prepared; as such, Cadet has been regarded as the father of organometallic chemistry.
This liquid develops white fumes when exposed to air, resulting in a pale flame producing carbon dioxide, water, and arsenic trioxide
Arsenic trioxide, sold under the brand name Trisenox among others, is an inorganic compound and medication. As an industrial chemical, whose major uses include in the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. As a medication, it ...
. It has a nauseating and very disagreeable garlic-like odor.
Around 1840, Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (;
30 March 1811
– 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...
did much work on characterizing the compounds in the liquid and its derivatives. His research was important in the development of radical theory.
References
{{reflist Organometallic chemistry Organoarsenic compounds Chemical mixtures