Cadet's fuming liquid was a red-brown oily liquid prepared in 1760 by the French chemist

Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt (24 July 1731 – 17 October 1799) was a French chemist who synthesised the first organometalic compound. He obtained a red liquid by the reaction of potassium acetate with arsenic trioxide. This liquid is ...

(1731-1799) by the reaction of

potassium acetate Potassium acetate (CH3COOK) is the potassium salt of acetic acid. It is a hygroscopic solid at room temperature. Preparation It can be prepared by treating a potassium-containing base such as potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with acetic ...

with

arsenic trioxide Arsenic trioxide, sold under the brand name Trisenox among others, is an inorganic compound and medication. As an industrial chemical, whose major uses include in the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. As a medication, i ...

. It consisted mostly of

dicacodyl Cacodyl, also known as dicacodyl or tetramethyldiarsine, (CH3)2As–As(CH3)2, is an organoarsenic compound that constitutes a major part of "Cadet's fuming liquid" (named after the French chemist Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt). It is a poisonous ...

(((CH₃)₂As)₂) and

cacodyl oxide Cacodyl oxide is a chemical compound of the formula CH3)2Assub>2O. This organoarsenic compound is primarily of historical significance since it is sometimes considered to be the first organometallic compound synthesized in relatively pure form. ...

(((CH₃)₂As)₂O). The global reaction (mass balance) corresponding to the oxide formation is the following: : These were the first

organometallic Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

substances prepared; as such, Cadet has been regarded as the father of organometallic chemistry. This liquid develops white fumes when exposed to air, resulting in a pale flame producing carbon dioxide, water, and

. It has a nauseating and very disagreeable garlic-like odor. Around 1840,

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

did much work on characterizing the compounds in the liquid and its derivatives. His research was important in the development of

radical theory Radical theory is an obsolete scientific theory in chemistry describing the structure of organic compounds. The theory was pioneered by Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Auguste Laurent around 1830 and is not related to the modern understand ...

References

{{reflist Organometallic chemistry Organoarsenic compounds Chemical mixtures