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herapathite

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Also known as iodoquinine sulfate

Herapathite, or iodoquinine sulfate, is a chemical compound whose crystals are dichroic and thus can be used for polarizing light.

Wikidata facts

Mass
3083.211481607639
Show 3 more facts
canonical SMILES
COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)C(C3CC4CCN3CC4C=C)O.COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)C(C3CC4CCN3CC4C=C)O.COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)C(C3CC4CCN3CC4C=C)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.I[I-]I.I[I-]I.I[I-]I.I[I-]I
isomeric SMILES
COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)[C@H]([C@@H]3C[C@@H]4CCN3C[C@@H]4C=C)O.COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)[C@H]([C@@H]3C[C@@H]4CCN3C[C@@H]4C=C)O.COC1=CC2=C(C=CN=C2C=C1)[C@H]([C@@H]3C[C@@H]4CCN3C[C@@H]4C=C)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.OS(=O)(=O)O.I[I-]I.I[I-]I.I[I-]I.I[I-]I
chemical formula
C₆₀H₈₄I₁₂N₆O₃₀S₆⁴⁻
Sources (1)

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Encyclopedic overview

2 sections
Contents
  • References
  • Further reading

Herapathite, or iodoquinine sulfate, is a chemical compound whose crystals are dichroic and thus can be used for polarizing light.

Its formation was investigated by 1852 by William Bird Herapath, a Bristol surgeon and chemist, after his pupil (Mr. W. H. Phelps) was attracted by some peculiarly brilliant emerald-green crystals that he noticed  in a bottle containing a large quantity of the mixed disulfates of quinine and cinchonine. Herapath found that he could create these crystals by dropping tincture of iodine into a solution of quinine disulfate in diluted sulfuric acid and that, by studying the crystals under a microscope, that they polarized light very strongly. The story that a dog was involved in the discovery can be found in the widely quoted publication[2]. There appears to be no reliable evidence for it other than the article, nearly one hundred years later by E. H. Land.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “herapathite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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