Skip to content
ultramarine

File:Ultramarinepigment.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ219660· pop 47· linked from 309 articles

ultramarine

Sign in to save

Also known as ultramarine blue, dark ultramarine blue

Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Its lengthy grinding and washing process makes the natural pigment quite valuable—roughly ten times more expensive than the stone it comes from. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, it was as expensive as gold in Europe.

Key facts

Color.title
Electric Ultramarine
Color.image
Ultramarinepigment.jpg
Color.caption
Synthetic ultramarine pigment
Color.hex
3F00FF
Color.spelling
color
Color.source
Maerz and Paul
Color.isccname
Deep blue

via Wikipedia infobox

Chemical data

Formula
Al6Na8O24S3Si6
Molecular weight
994.5 g/mol
IUPAC name
octasodium;(2,2-dioxido-1,3,2,4-dioxasilalumetan-4-yl)oxy-dioxido-[2,4,5-trioxa-1-sila-3-aluminabicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-yloxy(trioxidosilyloxy)alumanyl]oxysilane;2-(sulfidodisulfanyl)-6-(2,4,5-trioxa-1-sila-3-aluminabicyclo[1.1.1]pentan-1-yloxy)-1,3,5,7-tetraoxa-4-sila-2,6-dialuminaspiro[3.3]heptane
SMILES
[O-][Si]1(O[Al](O1)O[Si]([O-])([O-])O[Al](O[Si]23O[Al](O2)O3)O[Si]([O-])([O-])[O-])[O-].O1[Al]2O[Si]1(O2)O[Al]3O[Si]4(O3)O[Al](O4)SS[S-].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+].[Na+]
InChIKey
IRERQBUNZFJFGC-UHFFFAOYSA-L
Polar surface area
370 Ų
H-bond donors
0
H-bond acceptors
27
Formal charge
0

via PubChem

~19 min read

Encyclopedic overview

19 sections
Contents
  • Structure
  • Visual properties
  • Shades and variations
  • Electric
  • Production
  • Natural production
  • Synthetic production
  • History
  • Antiquity and Middle Ages
  • Renaissance
  • 17th and 18th centuries
  • 19th century (invention of synthetic ultramarine)
  • Permanence
  • Synthetic applications
  • Terminology
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Its lengthy grinding and washing process makes the natural pigment quite valuable—roughly ten times more expensive than the stone it comes from. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, it was as expensive as gold in Europe.

The name ultramarine comes from the Latin word . The word means 'beyond the sea', as the pigment was imported by Italian traders during the 14th and 15th centuries from mines in Afghanistan. Much of the expansion of ultramarine can be attributed to Venice which historically was the port of entry for lapis lazuli in Europe.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ultramarine” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (15)