A review on fulminating gold (Knallgold)

Expensive and explosive! The reaction of ammonia and gold(III) compounds leads to explosive products known as “fulminating gold”. Gold scientists should be aware of the potential hazards involved in the reaction of these starting materials. Herein, a historic and scientific review on this fascinatin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gold Bulletin 2008-01, Vol.41 (4), p.305-317
Main Authors: Steinhauser, Georg, Evers, Jürgen, Jakob, Stefanie, Klapötke, Thomas M., Oehlinger, Gilbert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry and Materials Science
Materials Science
Metallic Materials
Scientific Papers
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Summary:Expensive and explosive! The reaction of ammonia and gold(III) compounds leads to explosive products known as “fulminating gold”. Gold scientists should be aware of the potential hazards involved in the reaction of these starting materials. Herein, a historic and scientific review on this fascinating substance is presented. Fulminating gold has been known since medieval times, but cannot be fully characterized due to its polymeric and heterogeneous character. Magnetic measurements confirm previous EXAFS analyses that the gold atoms have a square planar coordination environment (AuN 4 -moieties that are party connected and form a 3-dimensional network). The explosive properties and resulting safety instructions are discussed in detail as well.
ISSN:0017-1557
2190-7579
DOI:10.1007/BF03214888