Fulminates are chemical compounds which includes the fulminate anion. The fulminate anion is a pseudohalic anion, acting like a halogen with its charge and reactivity. Due to the instability of the anion, they are friction-sensitive explosives. The best known is mercury fulminate which has been used as a primary explosive in detonators. Fulminates can be formed from metals, like silver and mercury, dissolved in nitric acid and reacted with alcohol The chemical formula for the fulminate anion is O^-N⁺C^-. It is largely the presence of the weak single nitrogen-oxygen bond which leads to its instability. Nitrogen very easily forms a stable triple bond to another nitrogen atom, forming gaseous nitrogen.

Fulminates were discovered by Edward Charles Howard in 1800.^* Their use in firearms in a fulminating powder was first demonstrated by a Scottish minister, A. J. Forsyth, in 1807. Joshua Shaw then made the transition to their use in metallic encapsulations, to form a percussion cap, but did not patent his invention until 1822.

Compounds

• Silver fulminate
• Mercury(II) fulminate
• Fulminic acid

See also

• percussion cap
• internal ballistics

Explosive chemicals