Vitriol

 ( Sulfuric Acid ) 

Vitriol is the general chemistry name encompassing a class of chemical compounds comprising of certain metalsoriginally, iron or copper. Those mineral substances were distinguished by their color, such as green vitriol for hydrated iron(II) sulfate and blue vitriol for hydrated copper(II) sulfate." Vitriol" entry in the online Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed on 2020-08-28.

These materials were found originally as crystals formed by evaporation of groundwater that percolated through sulfide minerals and collected in pools on the floors of old Mining. The word vitriol comes from the Latin word vitriolus, meaning "small glass", as those crystals resembled small pieces of colored glass.

Oil of vitriol was an old name for concentrated sulfuric acid, which was historically obtained through the destructive distillation (pyrolysis) of vitriols (sulfates). The name, abbreviated to vitriol, continued to be used for this viscous liquid long after the minerals came to be termed "sulfates". The figurative term vitriolic in the sense of "harshly condemnatory" is derived from the corrosive nature of this substance.

Cu,Mg,Fe,Mn,Co,NiSO4·7H2O
CuSO4·5H2O
FeSO4·7H2O
H2SO4
CoSO4·7H2O
CH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3
Al2(SO4)3
Fe2(SO4)3
ZnSO4·7H2O

Many sources state that black vitriol "is a mixture of iron sulfate and iron sulfite", but none give a reference of any sort. The book, Chemistry, Inorganic & Organic, with Experiments, by Bloxam is a published, reliable reference for the composition of black vitriol, and it states on page 513, "The formula of black vitriol may be written CuMgFeMnCoNiSO4·7H2O, the six isomorphous metals being interchangeable without altering the general character of the salt."

"Any combination of these elements may be found in black vitriol."

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History The study of vitriol began during ancient times. had a list of types of vitriol that they classified according to the substances' color. Some of the earliest discussions of the origin and properties of vitriol is in the works of the Greek physician Dioscorides (first century AD) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD). Galen also discussed its medical use. Metallurgical uses for vitriolic substances were recorded in the Hellenistic alchemical works of Zosimos of Panopolis, in the treatise Phisica et Mystica, and the Leyden papyrus X.

Medieval Islamic chemists like Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (died c. 806–816 AD, known in Latin as Geber), Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (865–925 AD, known in Latin as Rhazes), Ibn Sina (980–1037 AD, known in Latin as Avicenna), and Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Watwat (1234–1318 AD) included vitriol in their mineral classification lists..

Sulfuric acid was termed "oil of vitriol" by medieval European alchemists because it did not evaporate spontaneously in air (hence oil vs spirit in archaic parlance), and it was prepared by roasting "green vitriol" (typically a mixture of Iron and Copper Sulfates) in an iron retort. The first vague allusions to it appear in the works of Vincent of Beauvais, in the Compositum de Compositis ascribed to Saint Albertus Magnus, and in pseudo-Geber's Summa perfectionis (all thirteenth century AD)..

Systematic attempts to identify and analyze the nature of the various substances classed as vitriols were in full swing by the late 17th Century.

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