's 1808 sulfuric acid molecule shows a central
sulfur atom bonded to three oxygen atoms, or
sulfur trioxide, the
anhydride of sulfuric acid.
Vitriols The study of
vitriols (hydrated
sulfates of various metals forming glassy minerals from which sulfuric acid can be derived) began in
ancient times.
Sumerians had a list of types of vitriol that they classified according to the substances' color. Some of the earliest discussions on 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 alchemists like the authors writing under the name of
Jabir ibn Hayyan (died c. 806 – c. 816, known in Latin as Geber),
Abu Bakr al-Razi (865–925, known in Latin as Rhazes),
Ibn Sina (980–1037, known in Latin as Avicenna), and
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Watwat (1234–1318) included vitriol in their mineral classification lists.
Jabir ibn Hayyan, Abu Bakr al-Razi, Ibn Sina, et al. The Jabirian authors and al-Razi experimented extensively with the distillation of various substances, including vitriols. In one recipe recorded in his (
'Book of Secrets'), al-Razi may have created sulfuric acid without being aware of it: In an anonymous Latin work variously attributed to
Aristotle (under the title , 'Book of Aristotle'), to al-Razi (under the title , 'Great Light of Lights'), or to Ibn Sina, the author speaks of an 'oil' () obtained through the distillation of
iron(II) sulfate (green vitriol), which was likely 'oil of vitriol' or sulfuric acid. The work refers multiple times to Jabir ibn Hayyan's
Seventy Books (), one of the few Arabic Jabir works that were translated into Latin. The author of the version attributed to al-Razi also refers to the as his own work, showing that he erroneously believed the to be a work by al-Razi. There are several indications that the anonymous work was an original composition in Latin, although according to one manuscript it was translated by a certain Raymond of Marseilles, meaning that it may also have been a translation from the Arabic. According to
Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, three recipes for sulfuric acid occur in an anonymous
Garshuni manuscript containing a compilation taken from several authors and dating from before . One of them runs as follows: A recipe for the preparation of sulfuric acid is mentioned in , an Arabic treatise falsely attributed to the Shi'i Imam
Ja'far al-Sadiq (died 765).
Julius Ruska dated this treatise to the 13th century, but according to Ahmad Y. al-Hassan it likely dates from an earlier period:
Vincent of Beauvais, Albertus Magnus, and pseudo-Geber Sulfuric acid was called 'oil of vitriol' by medieval European alchemists because it was prepared by roasting iron(II) sulfate or green vitriol in an iron
retort. The first allusions to it in works that are European in origin appear in the thirteenth century AD, as for example in the works of
Vincent of Beauvais, in the ascribed to
Albertus Magnus, and in
pseudo-Geber's .
Producing sulfuric acid from sulfur A method of producing , or "oil of sulfur by the bell", was known by the 16th century: it involved burning sulfur under a glass bell in moist weather (or, later, under a moistened bell). However, it was very inefficient (according to
Gesner, of sulfur converted into less than of acid), and the resulting product was contaminated by
sulfurous acid (or rather, solution of
sulfur dioxide) so most alchemists (including, for example, Isaac Newton) did not consider it equivalent to "oil of vitriol". In the 17th century,
Johann Rudolf Glauber discovered that adding saltpeter (
potassium nitrate, ) significantly improves the output, also replacing moisture with steam. As saltpeter decomposes, it oxidizes the sulfur to , which combines with water to produce sulfuric acid. In 1736,
Joshua Ward, a London pharmacist, used this method to begin the first large-scale production of sulfuric acid.
Lead chamber process In 1746 in Birmingham,
John Roebuck adapted this method to produce sulfuric acid in
lead-lined chambers, which were stronger, less expensive, and could be made larger than the previously used glass containers. This process allowed the effective industrialization of sulfuric acid production. After several refinements, this method, called the
lead chamber process or "chamber process", remained the standard for sulfuric acid production for almost two centuries with a purity of 62% and a conversion of 75%. In the early to mid 19th century "vitriol" plants existed, among other places, in
Prestonpans in Scotland,
Shropshire and the
Lagan Valley in
County Antrim,
Northern Ireland, where it was used as a bleach for linen. Early bleaching of linen was done using lactic acid from sour milk but this was a slow process and the use of vitriol sped up the bleaching process. ==Safety==