Editing Ammonia (section)

== History ==
[[File:Al-Jaahith - African Arab Naturalist - Basra - al jahiz.jpg|thumb|upright|Jabir ibn Hayyan wrote about ammonia in the 9th century]]
[[File:Ammoniak Reaktor BASF.jpg|thumb|upright|This high-pressure ammonia reactor was built in 1921 by [[BASF]] in [[Ludwigshafen]] and was re-erected on the premises of the [[University of Karlsruhe]] in Germany.]]
The ancient Greek historian [[Herodotus]] mentioned that there were [[outcrop]]s of salt in an area of Libya that was inhabited by a people called the 'Ammonians' (now the [[Siwa oasis]] in northwestern Egypt, where salt lakes still exist).<ref>Herodotus with George Rawlinson, trans., ''The History of Herodotus'' (New York, New York: Tandy-Thomas Co., 1909), vol.2, Book 4, § 181, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004090527;view=1up;seq=330 pp. 304–305.]</ref><ref>The land of the Ammonians is mentioned elsewhere in Herodotus' ''History'' and in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias']] ''Description of Greece'':
* Herodotus with George Rawlinson, trans., ''The History of Herodotus'' (New York, New York: Tandy-Thomas Co., 1909), vol. 1, Book 2, § 42, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000278335;view=1up;seq=277 p. 245], vol. 2, Book 3, § 25, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004090527;view=1up;seq=83 p. 73], and vol. 2, Book 3, § 26, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004090527;view=1up;seq=84 p. 74.]
* Pausanias with W.H.S. Jones, trans., ''Description of Greece'' (London, England: William Heinemann Ltd., 1979), vol. 2, Book 3, Ch. 18, § 3, pp. 109 and [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028936014;view=1up;seq=125 111] and vol. 4, Book 9, Ch. 16, § 1, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028936030;view=1up;seq=251 p. 239.]</ref> The Greek geographer [[Strabo]] also mentioned the salt from this region. However, the ancient authors [[Dioscorides]], [[Apicius]], [[Arrian]], [[Synesius]], and [[Aëtius of Amida]] described this salt as forming clear crystals that could be used for cooking and that were essentially [[rock salt]].<ref>Kopp, Hermann, ''Geschichte der Chemie'' [History of Chemistry] (Braunschweig, (Germany): Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1845), Part 3, [https://archive.org/stream/geschichtederche03unse#page/236/mode/2up p. 237.] [in German]</ref> ''Hammoniacus sal'' appears in the writings of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]],<ref>{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911}} cites Pliny ''Nat. Hist.'' xxxi. 39. See: Pliny the Elder with John Bostock and H. T. Riley, ed.s, ''The Natural History'' (London, England: H. G. Bohn, 1857), vol. 5, Book 31, § 39, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020434133;view=1up;seq=528 p. 502.]</ref> although it is not known whether the term is equivalent to the more modern sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}}<ref name="Webmineral">{{cite web|url=http://webmineral.com/data/Sal-ammoniac.shtml |title=Sal-ammoniac|publisher=Webmineral|access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref><ref>Pliny also mentioned that when some samples of what was purported to be ''[[natron]]'' (Latin: ''nitrum'', impure sodium carbonate) were treated with lime (calcium carbonate) and water, the ''natron'' would emit a pungent smell, which some authors have interpreted as signifying that the ''natron'' either was ammonium chloride or was contaminated with it. See:
* Pliny with W.H.S. Jones, trans., ''Natural History'' (London, England: William Heinemann Ltd., 1963), vol. 8, Book 31, § 46, pp. 448–449. [https://archive.org/stream/naturalhistory08plinuoft#page/448/mode/2up From pp. 448–449:] ''"Adulteratur in Aegypto calce, deprehenditur gusto. Sincerum enim statim resolvitur, adulteratum calce pungit et asperum ''[or ''aspersum'']'' reddit odorem vehementer."'' (In Egypt it [i.e., natron] is adulterated with lime, which is detected by taste; for pure natron melts at once, but adulterated natron stings because of the lime, and emits a strong, bitter odour [or: when sprinkled [(''aspersum'') with water] emits a vehement odour])
* Kidd, John, ''Outlines of Mineralogy'' (Oxford, England: N. Bliss, 1809), vol. 2, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mCU4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6.] 
* Moore, Nathaniel Fish, ''Ancient Mineralogy: Or, An Inquiry Respecting Mineral Substances Mentioned by the Ancients:'' ... (New York, New York: G. & C. Carvill & Co., 1834), [https://archive.org/details/ancientmineralo01moorgoog/page/n103 pp. 96–97.]</ref>

The fermentation of [[urine]] by bacteria produces a [[Ammonia solution|solution of ammonia]]; hence fermented urine was used in [[Classical Antiquity]] to wash cloth and clothing, to remove hair from hides in preparation for tanning, to serve as a [[mordant]] in dyeing cloth, and to remove rust from iron.<ref>See:
* Forbes, R.J., ''Studies in Ancient Technology'', vol. 5, 2nd ed. (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1966), pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zqg3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19 19], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zqg3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA48 48], and [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zqg3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA65 65].
* Moeller, Walter O., ''The Wool Trade of Ancient Pompeii'' (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1976), [https://books.google.com/books?id=g7wUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA20 p. 20.]
* Faber, G.A. (pseudonym of: Goldschmidt, Günther) (May 1938) "Dyeing and tanning in classical antiquity," ''Ciba Review'', '''9''' : 277–312. Available at: [http://www.elizabethancostume.net/cibas/ciba9.html Elizabethan Costume]
* Smith, William, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (London, England: John Murray, 1875), article: "Fullo" (i.e., fullers or launderers), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hneuvp;view=1up;seq=570 pp. 551–553.]
* Rousset, Henri (31 March 1917) [https://books.google.com/books?id=WB4uWYU5V20C&pg=PA197 "The laundries of the Ancients,"] ''Scientific American Supplement'', '''83''' (2152) : 197.
* Bond, Sarah E., ''Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professions in the Roman Mediterranean'' (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2016), [https://books.google.com/books?id=HIxfDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 p. 112.]
* Binz, Arthur (1936) "Altes und Neues über die technische Verwendung des Harnes" (Ancient and modern [information] about the technological use of urine), ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie'', '''49''' (23) : 355–360. [in German]
* Witty, Michael (December 2016) "Ancient Roman urine chemistry," ''Acta Archaeologica'', '''87''' (1) : 179–191. Witty speculates that the Romans obtained ammonia in concentrated form by adding wood ash (impure [[potassium carbonate]]) to urine that had been fermented for several hours. [[Struvite]] (magnesium ammonium phosphate) is thereby precipitated, and the yield of struvite can be increased by then treating the solution with [[bittern (salt)|bittern]], a magnesium-rich solution that is a byproduct of making salt from sea water. Roasting struvite releases ammonia vapours.</ref> It was also used by [[Dentistry in ancient Rome|ancient dentists]] to wash teeth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lenkeit |first=Roberta Edwards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sapxDwAAQBAJ&dq=Teeth+whitening+ancient+Rome&pg=PA72 |title=High Heels and Bound Feet: And Other Essays on Everyday Anthropology, Second Edition |date=2018-10-23 |publisher=Waveland Press |isbn=978-1-4786-3841-4 |pages=72 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Perdigão |first=Jorge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lB3KDAAAQBAJ&dq=Teeth+whitening+ancient+Rome&pg=PA170 |title=Tooth Whitening: An Evidence-Based Perspective |date=2016-08-03 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-38849-6 |pages=170 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bonitz |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzW8BAAAQBAJ&dq=Teeth+whitening+ancient+Rome&pg=PA465 |title=Complex Plasmas: Scientific Challenges and Technological Opportunities |last2=Lopez |first2=Jose |last3=Becker |first3=Kurt |last4=Thomsen |first4=Hauke |date=2014-04-09 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-319-05437-7 |pages=465 |language=en}}</ref>

In the form of sal ammoniac (نشادر, ''nushadir''), ammonia was important to the [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Muslim alchemists]]. It was mentioned in the ''Book of Stones'', likely written in the 9th century and attributed to [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]].<ref name="Haq-1995">{{cite book|last=Haq|first=Syed Nomanul|title=Names, Natures and Things: The Alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan and His Kitab Al-Ahjar (Book of Stones)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-70YjP0nj8C|year=1995|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-3254-1}}</ref> It was also important to the European [[alchemists]] of the 13th century, being mentioned by [[Albertus Magnus]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}} It was also used by [[dye]]rs in the [[Middle Ages]] in the form of fermented [[urine]] to alter the colour of vegetable dyes. In the 15th century, [[Basilius Valentinus]] showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalis on sal ammoniac.<ref>''Spiritus salis urinæ'' (spirit of the salt of urine, i.e., ammonium carbonate) had apparently been produced before Valentinus, although he presented a new, simpler method for preparing it in his book: Valentinus, Basilius, ''Vier Tractätlein Fr. Basilii Valentini'' ... [Four essays of Brother Basil Valentine ... ] (Frankfurt am Main, (Germany): Luca Jennis, 1625), ''"Supplementum oder Zugabe"'' (Supplement or appendix), pp. 80–81: ''"Der Weg zum Universal, damit die drei Stein zusammen kommen."'' (The path to the Universal, so that the three stones come together.). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UlhcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA81 From p. 81:] ''"Der Spiritus salis Urinæ nimbt langes wesen zubereiten / dieser proceß aber ist waß leichter unnd näher auß dem Salz von Armenia, ... Nun nimb sauberen schönen Armenischen Salz armoniac ohn alles sublimiren / thue ihn in ein Kolben / giesse ein Oleum Tartari drauff / daß es wie ein Muß oder Brey werde / vermachs baldt / dafür thu auch ein grosen vorlag / so lege sich als baldt der Spiritus Salis Urinæ im Helm an Crystallisch ... "'' (Spirit of the salt of urine [i.e., ammonium carbonate] requires a long method [i.e., procedure] to prepare; this [i.e., Valentine's] process [starting] from the salt from Armenia [i.e., ammonium chloride], however, is somewhat easier and shorter ... Now take clean nice Armenian salt, without sublimating all [of it]; put it in a [distillation] flask; pour oil of tartar [i.e., potassium carbonate that has dissolved only in the water that it has absorbed from the air] on it, [so] that it [i.e., the mixture] becomes like a mush or paste; assemble it [i.e., the distilling apparatus ([[alembic]])] quickly; for that [purpose] connect a large receiving flask; then soon spirit of the salt of urine deposits as crystals in the "helmet" [i.e., the outlet for the vapours, which is atop the distillation flask] ...)<br />
See also: Kopp, Hermann, ''Geschichte der Chemie'' [History of Chemistry] (Braunschweig, (Germany): Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1845), Part 3, [https://archive.org/stream/geschichtederche03unse#page/243/mode/2up p. 243.] [in German]
</ref> At a later period, when sal ammoniac was obtained by distilling the hooves and horns of oxen and neutralizing the resulting carbonate with [[hydrochloric acid]], the name 'spirit of hartshorn' was applied to ammonia.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kwQQaltqByAC&pg=PA72|page=72|title=Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry|author=Maurice P. Crosland|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|year=2004|isbn=978-0-486-43802-3}}</ref>

Gaseous ammonia was first isolated by [[Joseph Black]] in 1756 by reacting ''sal ammoniac'' ([[ammonium chloride]]) with ''calcined magnesia'' ([[magnesium oxide]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/b21730738|title=Experiments upon magnesia alba, quick-lime, and other alcaline substances|last=Black|first=Joseph|date=1893|publisher=W.F. Clay|location=Edinburgh|orig-year=1755}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UeGlmU2F8_8C&pg=PA14|title=Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions|last=Jacobson|first=Mark Z.|date=2012-04-23|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107691155|language=en}}</ref> It was isolated again by [[Peter Woulfe]] in 1767,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/woulfes-bottle/2500114.article|title=Woulfe's bottle|work=Chemistry World|access-date=2017-07-01|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Woulfe|first=Peter|date=1767-01-01|title=Experiments on the Distillation of Acids, Volatile Alkalies, &c. Shewing How They May be Condensed without Loss, and How Thereby We May Avoid Disagreeable and Noxious Fumes: In a Letter from Mr. Peter Woulfe, F. R. S. to John Ellis, Esq; F. R. S.|journal=Philosophical Transactions|language=en|volume=57|pages=517–536|doi=10.1098/rstl.1767.0052|issn=0261-0523|bibcode=1767RSPT...57..517W|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1432252|doi-access=free}}</ref> by [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]] in 1770<ref>{{cite book |hdl= 1811/28946/Pictorial%20Life%20History_Scheele.pdf |title= Pictorial life history of the apothecary chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele |publisher= American Institute of the History of Pharmacy |year= 1942 |last1= Urdang |first1= George }}</ref> and by [[Joseph Priestley]] in 1773 and was termed by him 'alkaline air'.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}}<ref>See:
* Priestley, Joseph (1773) [https://archive.org/stream/observationsetm02pari#page/388/mode/2up "Extrait d'une lettre de M. Priestley, en date du 14 Octobre 1773"] (Extract of a letter from Mr. Priestley, dated 14 October 1773), ''Observations sur la Physique'' ..., '''2''' : 389.
* Priestley, Joseph, ''Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air'', vol. 1, 2nd ed. (London, England: 1775), [https://archive.org/stream/experimentsobser01prie#page/162/mode/2up Part 2, § 1: Observations on Alkaline Air, pp. 163–177.]
* Schofield, Robert E., ''The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773 to 1804'' (University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qL9K2e4KIvsC&pg=PA94 pp. 93–94.]
* By 1775, Priestley had observed that electricity could decompose ammonia ("alkaline air"), yielding a flammable gas (hydrogen). See: Priestley, Joseph, ''Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air'', vol. 2 (London, England: J. Johnson, 1775), [https://archive.org/details/b30532401_0001/page/239 pp. 239–240.]</ref> Eleven years later in 1785, [[Claude Louis Berthollet]] ascertained its composition.<ref>Berthollet (1785) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k35847/f490.item.zoom "Analyse de l'alkali volatil"] (Analysis of volatile alkali), ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences'', 316–326.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}}

The production of ammonia from nitrogen in the air (and hydrogen) was invented by [[Fritz Haber]] and Robert LeRossignol. The patent was sent in 1909 (USPTO Nr 1,202,995) and awarded in 1916. Later, [[Carl Bosch]] developed the industrial method for ammonia production ([[Haber–Bosch process]]). It was first used on an industrial scale in [[Germany]] during [[World War I]],<ref name="Max Appl-2006">{{cite book|author=Max Appl |title=Ammonia, in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|year= 2006|publisher= Wiley-VCH|location= Weinheim|doi=10.1002/14356007.a02_143.pub2|chapter=Ammonia|isbn=978-3527306732}}</ref> following the allied blockade that cut off the supply of [[nitrate]]s from [[Chile]]. The ammonia was used to produce explosives to sustain war efforts.<ref name="Smith-2001" >{{cite book|author=Smith, Roland|title=Conquering Chemistry|year=2001|isbn=978-0-07-470146-1|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=Sydney}}</ref> The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1918 was awarded to Fritz Haber "for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements".

Before the availability of natural gas, hydrogen as a precursor to [[ammonia production]] was produced via the [[electrolysis]] of water or using the [[chloralkali process]].

With the advent of the [[steel]] industry in the 20th century, ammonia became a byproduct of the production of [[coking]] coal.