208 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



CHEMISTRY. 



Acree, S. F., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Grant No. 

 616. Continuation of study of tautomerism and catalysis. (For previ- 

 ous reports see Year Books Nos. 4-8.) $1,000 



Work on tautomerism and catalysis has been continued with the coopera- 

 tion of Dr. B. B. Turner, Dr. Sidney Nirdlinger, Dr. H. C. Robertson, Dr. 

 S. K. Loy, Mr. E. P. Doetsch, N. E. Loomis, and Mr. E. K. Marshall. Some 

 especially interesting results were secured at — 70 ° C. in the work on tauto- 

 meric compounds. This line of investigation will be continued at still lower 

 temperatures. 



During the year an excellent system of resistance thermometry has been 

 developed by Messrs. Turner and Marshall, with the cooperation of Drs. 

 Dickinson and Mueller, of the Bureau of Standards. The special features 

 of the Wheatstone bridge and the thermometers enable us to measure tem- 

 peratures with an accuracy of 0.001 C, or better. 



A system of standard calomel cells has been perfected ; pairs of these have 

 not varied in their electromotive force in one year as much as 0.0000 1 volt. 



The following papers have appeared during the year : 



On the Reactions of Diazoalkyls with i-Phenyl-2-Methylwazole. By 

 Sidney Nirdlinger and S. F. Acree. (American Chemical Journal, 43, pp. 



358-384.) — In this article are discussed some new methods of studying the 

 reactions of tautomeric acids. The results give strong evidence of the exist- 

 ence of two tautomeric acids in solutions of i-phenyl-2-methylurazole. 



Note on the Reactions of Diasoalkyls with i-Phenyl-2-M ' ethylurazole '. By 

 Sidney Nirdlinger, E. K. Marshall, jr., and S. F. Acree. (American Chemi- 

 cal Journal, 43, p. 424.) — This is a continuation of the preceding article and 

 embodies the results of experiments at — 70 ° C. 



On the Salts of Tautomeric Compounds: Reactions of Urazole Salts with 

 Alkyl Halides. By R. F. Brunei and S. F. Acree. (American Chemical Jour- 

 nal, 43, pp. 505-553.) — Dr. Brunei prepared a large number of derivatives 

 of phenylurazole and performed a number of quantitative experiments to 

 secure light on tautomeric reactions. There is a full discussion, which shows 

 that the evidence secured harmonizes much better with our theory of tauto- 

 meric compounds than with the theories of other workers. 



On the Rearrangement of the Tautomeric Salts of 1,4-Diphenyl-^-Thiou- 

 urasole and 1 ,4-Diphenyl-yThiolurazole . By Sidney Nirdlinger and S. F. 

 Acree. (American Chemical Journal, 44, pp. 219-251.) — In this article is an 

 excellent example of the use of physical organic methods in the determina- 

 tion of the constitution of these urazoles, which had been given wrongly by 

 others for twelve years. These acids and their salts were shown to rearrange 

 into each other and to give characteristic derivatives in harmony with our 

 theory. 



