Fulminating gold is a light- and shock-sensitive yellow to yellow-orange amorphous heterogeneous mixture of different polymeric compounds of predominantly gold (III), ammonia, and chlorine that cannot be described by a chemical formula. Here, the word fulminating has its oldest meaning, "explosive" (from Latin fulmen, lightning, from verb fulgeo, 'I shine'); the material contains no fulminate ions. The best approximate description is that it is the product of partial hydrolysis of . Upon combustion, it produces a purple vapor. The complex has a square planar molecular geometry with a low spin state. Generally, it is best to avoid accidentally creating this substance by mixing gold chloride or hydroxide salts with ammonia gas or ammonium salts, as it is prone to explosion with even the slig