Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Chemical solvents that were/most likely were discovered before the 16th century

khourygeo77 - 24-9-2017 at 11:07

I have a list, I'm not sure if there are more

1. Ethyl alcohol
2. Methyl alcohol (chemists used to distill wood so they must have used it sometimes)
3. Alkanes (petroleum was widely known by chemists)
4. HCL - HNO3 - H2SO4 following distillation of common salt or potassium nitrate or sulfur that were widely known
5. Acetone in distillation of metal acetates
6. Ammonia & water in distillation of fecal matter
7. Diethyl ether - ethoxide (mixing the very used ethanol with sulfuric acid then bases like CaO or KOH)

Anyone knows about more?

Thanks

j_sum1 - 24-9-2017 at 12:28

You are probably looking at mixtures mostly.

Turpentine
Paraffin wax
Olive oil

I don't know when acetic acid was first purified or when it was first used as a solvent but it was certainly around.

khourygeo77 - 24-9-2017 at 12:33

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1  
You are probably looking at mixtures mostly.

Turpentine
Paraffin wax
Olive oil

I don't know when acetic acid was first purified or when it was first used as a solvent but it was certainly around.


yeah forgot that. Was called spirit of vinegar (dilute acetic acid)

CRUSTY - 24-9-2017 at 13:46

Diethyl ether is believed to have first been synthesized in 1275. Also, the properties of water as a solvent have been recognized since the era of Ancient Greece (800-500 BCE).

Melgar - 24-9-2017 at 15:48

Probably lard and melted butter, for your nonpolar solvents. Glycerol would have been left over after making soap.

clearly_not_atara - 25-9-2017 at 13:46

Sulfuric acid nee vitriol comes to mind, although it isn't that often considered a "solvent". Wikipedia tells me that acetone was obtained by distillation of lead acetate (itself known to the Romans) in the Middle Ages and that Islamic alchemists discovered kerosene. Ammonium chloride was known in China although it isn't quite a "solvent". Various essential oils were distilled by alchemists but these were not pure substances and they were probably not used as solvents. Acetic acid was also obtained in the Abbasid era.

[Edited on 25-9-2017 by clearly_not_atara]

vmelkon - 25-9-2017 at 16:47

There is also benzene, which comes from an arabic word. I don't know if the arabs produced benzene or not.

Corrosive Joeseph - 26-9-2017 at 00:52

Quote: Originally posted by vmelkon  
There is also benzene, which comes from an arabic word. I don't know if the arabs produced benzene or not.


"The word "benzene" derives historically from "gum benzoin" (benzoin resin), an aromatic resin known to European pharmacists and perfumers since the 15th century as a product of southeast Asia.[12] An acidic material was derived from benzoin by sublimation, and named "flowers of benzoin", or benzoic acid. The hydrocarbon derived from benzoic acid thus acquired the name benzin, benzol, or benzene.[13] Michael Faraday first isolated and identified benzene in 1825 from the oily residue derived from the production of illuminating gas, giving it the name bicarburet of hydrogen.[14][15] In 1833, Eilhard Mitscherlich produced it by distilling benzoic acid (from gum benzoin) and lime. He gave the compound the name benzin.[16]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene


/CJ

vmelkon - 26-9-2017 at 15:30

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph  
Quote: Originally posted by vmelkon  
There is also benzene, which comes from an arabic word. I don't know if the arabs produced benzene or not.


"The word "benzene" derives historically from "gum benzoin" (benzoin resin), an aromatic resin known to European pharmacists and perfumers since the 15th century as a product of southeast Asia.[12] An acidic material was derived from benzoin by sublimation, and named "flowers of benzoin", or benzoic acid. The hydrocarbon derived from benzoic acid thus acquired the name benzin, benzol, or benzene.[13] Michael Faraday first isolated and identified benzene in 1825 from the oily residue derived from the production of illuminating gas, giving it the name bicarburet of hydrogen.[14][15] In 1833, Eilhard Mitscherlich produced it by distilling benzoic acid (from gum benzoin) and lime. He gave the compound the name benzin.[16]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene


/CJ


For the gum benzoin,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoin_(resin)

" Its name came via the Italian from the Arabic lubān jāwī (لبان جاوي, "frankincense from Java")."

but perhaps I'm not remember it right. I thought the arabs calld it benzin or something.

Melgar - 30-9-2017 at 22:15

Quote: Originally posted by vmelkon  
For the gum benzoin,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoin_(resin)

" Its name came via the Italian from the Arabic lubān jāwī (لبان جاوي, "frankincense from Java")."

but perhaps I'm not remember it right. I thought the arabs calld it benzin or something.

Pretty sure it comes from the same root as the name "Benjamin". Like, the tree was called "tree of Benjamin" or something.

Sulaiman - 30-9-2017 at 23:29

I'm fairly certain that the first solvent commonly used was dihydrogen monoxide.

unionised - 1-10-2017 at 00:14

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman  
I'm fairly certain that the first solvent commonly used was dihydrogen monoxide.


Very probabaly.

I suspect that styrene (from gum styrax) was made at about the same time as benzene.