Purple of Cassius is a purple pigment formed by the reaction of gold salts with

tin(II) chloride Tin(II) chloride, also known as stannous chloride, is a white crystalline solid with the formula . It forms a stable dihydrate, but aqueous solutions tend to undergo hydrolysis, particularly if hot. SnCl2 is widely used as a reducing agent (in aci ...

. It has been used to impart

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

with a red coloration (see ''

cranberry glass Cranberry glass or Gold Ruby glass is a red glass made by adding gold salts or colloidal gold to molten glass. Tin, in the form of stannous chloride, is sometimes added in tiny amounts as a reducing agent. The glass is used primarily in exp ...

''), as well as to determine the presence of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

as a

chemical test In chemistry, a chemical test is a qualitative or quantitative procedure designed to identify, quantify, or characterise a chemical compound or chemical group. Purposes Chemical testing might have a variety of purposes, such as to: * Determin ...

. Generally, the preparation of this material involves gold being dissolved in aqua regia, then reacted with a solution of tin(II) chloride. The tin(II) chloride reduces the

chloroauric acid Chloroauric acid is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It forms hydrates . Both the trihydrate and tetrahydrate are known. Both are orange-yellow solids consisting of the planar anion. Often chloroauric acid is handled as a soluti ...

from the dissolution of gold in aqua regia to a colloid of elemental gold supported on

tin dioxide Tin(IV) oxide, also known as stannic oxide, is the inorganic compound with the formula SnO2. The mineral form of SnO2 is called cassiterite, and this is the main ore of tin. With many other names, this oxide of tin is an important material in tin ...

to give a purple precipitate or coloration. When used as a test, the intensity of the color correlates with the concentration of gold present. This test was first observed and refined by a German physician and alchemist, Andreas Cassius (1600–1676) of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, in 1665. Berzelius later made a detailed study of the purple of Cassius. The colour also attracted attention from

Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, ...

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy Richard Adolf Zsigmondy ( hu, Zsigmondy Richárd Adolf; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-born chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1925, as well as for c ...

, who earned the 1926

Nobel Prize for chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

, says that "Several of the red gold divisions prepared with

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section ...

as well as those reduced with

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

appeared perfectly clear in ordinary daylight (like good red wine). They did not settle out their gold, and I was therefore able to call them rightly chemical solutions. In Thomas Graham’s dialysis, however, they behaved like colloidal suspensions: the gold particles did not pass through the parchment membrane. This showed my gold divisions their proper place, namely, that they belonged to the colloidal suspensions."

References

''Partially translated from the German Wikipedia article, '' Goldpurpur''. * {{cite journal , title = The True Story of Purple of Cassius , author = L. B. Hunt , journal = Gold Bulletin , pages = 134–139 , volume = 9 , issue = 4 , year = 1976 , url = http://www.goldbulletin.org/assets/file/goldbulletin/downloads/Hunt_4_9.pdf , doi=10.1007/bf03215423, s2cid = 138485909 , doi-access = free Chemical tests Gold Pigments Inorganic pigments Glass dyes