In the late 19th century, several attempts were made to determine the composition of set Sorel's cement, but the results were not conclusive.Otto Krause (1873): "Ueber Magnesiumoxychlorid". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, volume 165, pages 38–44.G. M. André (1882): "Sur les oxychlorures de magnésium". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences, volume 94, pages 444–446. Phase 3 was properly isolated and described by Robinson and Waggaman in 1909,W. O. Robinson and W. H. Waggaman (1909): "Basic magnesium chlorides". Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 13, issue 9, pages 673–678. and phase 5 was identified by Lukens in 1932.
