Abstract
IN the presence of an alkali, chloral undergoes a fission at the C—C bond with the formation of chloroform and an alkali formate. This communication gives a preliminary report on the investigation of this reaction in the presence of heavy hydrogen water. 1 c.c. of a solution containing 0.002 mole of chloral hydrate is mixed with 1 c.c. of a solution containing 0.002 mole of sodium hydroxide. The reaction is complete within one minute at 30° C. and, after this period, the reaction mixture is frozen. The chloroform and the water are removed by pumping off the vapours of these substances from the frozen mixture. When the sodium formate which remains in the vessel is perfectly dry, it is decomposed by the action of heat. Sodium oxalate and hydrogen are formed and the latter is then converted to water. The excess density of this water is determined by the micro-pyknometer method of Gilfillan and Polanyi1. The results of experiments in the presence of normal water and of heavy hydrogen water respectively, are listed below. The excess density of the original heavy water, allowing for the exchange between the hydrogen of the hydroxyl groups of the reagents and that of the water was 2650 p.p.m.
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References
Gilfillan, E. S., and Polanyi, M., Z. phys. Chem., A, 166, 255 (1933).
Small, P. A., and Wolfenden, J. H., J. Chem. Soc., 1811 (1936).
Bonhoeffer, K. H., and Walters, W. D., Z. phys. Chem., A. 181, 441 (1938).
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LAUDER, I., WRIGHT, S. Hydrolysis of Chloral in Heavy Hydrogen Water. Nature 158, 381 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/158381a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/158381a0
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