Preparation
Mercury(II) fulminate is prepared by dissolving mercury in nitric acid and adding ethanol to the solution. It was first prepared by Edward Charles Howard in 1800. The crystal structure of this compound was only determined in 2007.
Silver fulminate can be prepared in a similar way, but this salt is even more unstable than mercury fulminate; it can even explode under water and is impossible to accumulate in large amounts because it detonates under its own weight.
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