Sulfuric acid

No substance has enabled more chemistry than sulfuric acid. It dissolves metals, catalyzes reactions, and transforms raw materials into useful products. Its discovery in 8th-century Islamic alchemy marked the beginning of systematic chemical manipulation of matter.

Jabir ibn Hayyan, working in the Islamic Golden Age around 800 CE, first described the production of this corrosive liquid by heating green vitriol—iron sulfate—in a retort. The sulfate decomposed, releasing sulfur trioxide that combined with water vapor to form the acid. He called it "oil of vitriol" for the glassy appearance of the sulfate salts from which it came. The Latin word vitreus, meaning glass, entered chemistry through this medieval origin.

The adjacent possible required specific convergences. Alchemists needed glassware capable of withstanding high temperatures and corrosive fumes. They needed iron sulfate, which formed naturally in mines where iron and sulfur deposits interacted with water. They needed the conceptual framework of distillation—heating substances to release their essences—that Arabic scholars had refined from earlier Greek and Egyptian practices.

Jabir's student al-Razi, working in 9th-century Persia, improved the process by distilling copper sulfate alongside iron sulfate, producing stronger concentrations. The knowledge spread through the Islamic world and into Europe via translations by scholars like Albertus Magnus in the 13th century.

Sulfuric acid became what biologists would call a keystone species in the chemical ecosystem. It enabled the production of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, phosphate fertilizers, explosives, dyes, and petroleum products. The Lead Chamber Process of 1746 industrialized its production, making sulfuric acid so fundamental that a nation's acid output became a proxy for industrial development.

The cascade of enabled inventions spans centuries: sulfuric acid made possible the Daniell cell battery, guncotton explosives, synthetic dyes, and modern fertilizer production. Each application opened new adjacent possibles. The alchemists seeking the philosopher's stone instead created the universal solvent of industry—a foundation upon which industrial chemistry would build for a millennium.