Complex sentence: In his attempts to produce pure platinum metal in 1804, W.H. Wollaston added mercuric cyanide to a solution of impure platinum metal in aqua regia to precipitate palladium cyanide which was then ignited to recover palladium metal-a new element.
Split into simpler sentences: In his attempts to produce pure platinum metal in 1804, W.H. Wollaston added mercuric cyanide to a solution of impure platinum metal in aqua regia. This precipitated palladium cyanide which was then ignited to recover palladium metal-a new element.