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Updated: Sep 20, 2025

A Study of the Complexation of MercuryII with Dicysteinyl Tetrapeptides by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Published on: January 8, 2016
Exploring the ancient chemistry of mercury
Marianna Marchini1, Massimo Gandolfi1, Lucia Maini1
1Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
Abstract:
This paper explores the chemistry of mercury as described in ancient alchemical literature. Alchemy's focus on the knowledge and manipulation of natural substances is not so different from modern chemistry's purposes. The great divide between the two is marked by the way of conceptualizing and recording their practices. Our interdisciplinary research group, composed of chemists and historians of science, has set off to explore the cold and hot extraction of mercury from cinnabar. The ancient written records have been perused in order to devise laboratory experiments that could shed light on the material reality behind the alchemical narratives and interpret textual details in a unique perspective. In this way, it became possible to translate the technical lore of ancient alchemy into the modern language of chemistry. Thanks to the replication of alchemical practices, chemistry can regain its centuries-long history that has fallen into oblivion.
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