copper ammonium complex?

[bobo]

I have a flexible copper tube I bent into a spiral and used it to distill booze. Depending on the amount of heat supplied, this column is capable of reasonably fast 20-30% alcohol (by taste) from 5% beer (as a calibration) and more if I am willing to wait long (which I am usually not).

Then I distilled ammonia with it, big mistake because the gas of course did not condense but come out as gas. But the concentrated ammonia was nicely blue as was the alcohol I got from this column the next time.

Now I wonder what kind of (copper) compound this can be, and more importantly, if this compound can be put to some use...

[megalomania]

In my last post here:
http://roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1894&perpage=50&highlight=copper%20ammonia&pagenumber=2
I discuss the very same problem as I ran ammonia through my catalytic reactor. The compound you have obtained is hexaaqua compound. To find out more about the chemistry involved with ammonia copper complexes go to this website which explains the chemistry far better than I ever could:
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/transition/copper.html

As for the usefulness of the compound, I believe it is rather useless. I turned mine into copper oxide in my furnace. Oh I am sure someone somewhere can find a use for the stuff, but I know of no explosive, pyrotechnic, or synthetic use for it.

[T_Pyro]

How about converting it into copper chloride (for coloured flames in fireworks) by adding HCl to it? I prepare my copper chloride by adding dil.HCl to tetramine copper hydroxide until the solution turns green, then drying it out.