Ligroin is a distilled petroleum product. The fraction is also called heavy naphtha."Chemistry of Hazardous Materials, Third Edition", Meyer, E., Prentice Hall, 1998, page 458. These may be called light naphtha.
The name ligroin (or ligroine or ligroïne) appeared as early as 1866.The name "ligroin" was coined in the United States: From p. 349: "Ligroine; der in Amerika erfundene Name für einen der flüchtigeren Teile des rohen Petroleums, … " (Ligroin: the name that was coined in America for one of the more volatile parts of crude petroleum, … ) Early use in English: From p. 389: "Dr. Van der Weyde then exhibited some samples of the products of distillation of tar, and a safety-lamp for burning the lighter hydro-carbons, which is mainly a reproduction of the "Ligroine" lamp invented and put into the market first by C. Schreiber in Munich (Bavaria), and described in the March number of Dingler's Polytechnic Journal." See also: Early use in German: From p. 474: "Das einzige Gefährliche ist die Aufbewahrung des Leuchtstoffes, der sogenannten Li-gro-ine selbst. Diese Naphta oder Li-gro-ine muß, wenn in großen Quantitäten vorhanden, in wohl verschlossenen Gefäßen aufbewahrt werden." (The one danger is the storage of the lamp fuel, the so-called "ligroin" itself. This naphtha or "ligroin" must, if present in large quantities, be stored in well sealed containers.)
Use as fuel Ligroin was used to refuel the world's first production automobile, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, on a long distance journey between Mannheim and Pforzheim. Bertha Benz added ligroin to the vehicle at a pharmacy in Wiesloch.
The first functional diesel engine could also run on ligroin.Rudolf Diesel: Die Entstehung des Dieselmotors, Springer, Berlin 1913, . p. 110
See also White spirit
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