Chemistry

Abstract

THIRTY substances are included in the current volume of this welcome annual. Among acyclic compounds with long carbon chains are n-dodecyl bromide (made from n-dodecyl alcohol), n-hexadecane (from cetyl alcohol, via cetyl iodide), and oleyl alcohol (from butyl oleate, prepared from olive oil by alcoholysis). Simple open-chain compounds include trichloroethyl alcohol, which is readily prepared by treating chloral with aluminium ethoxide in presence of anhydrous alcohol. In the aromatic series, a simple method is given for converting 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene into 2,4-dinitroaniline by treatment with ammonium acetate and ammonia gas at 170° in an open vessel; further, an example of oxidation with selenium dioxide is provided by the preparation of phenylglyoxal from acetophenone. In the heterocyclic series, Hans Fischer submits details of the preparation of 2,4-dimethyl-3,5-dicarbethoxy-pyrrole and its conversion into 2,4-dimethylpyrrole, by means of processes based upon the original procedure of Knorr.

Organic Syntheses:

an Annual Publication of Satisfactory Methods for the Preparation of Organic Chemicals. Carl R. Noller., Editor-in-Chief. Vol. 15. Pp. v + 104. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1935.) 8s. 6d. net.