148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



CH3CH ; NOHgCl ; 



II 

 O 



both these reagents, and especially the former, act with explosive 

 violence on this salt, so that it is necessary to dilute with ab- 

 solute ether. 



The above results with silver dinitroethane, which have shown that 

 neutral ethers of the constitution 



RCH : NOR 



II 

 O 



must be strong oxidizing agents, encourage one to undertake a renewed 

 study of the action of acid chlorides on nitroparaffine salts, and experi- 

 ments will therefore very shortly be taken up again. Of especial 

 interest is the behavior of chlorocarbonic ether towards sodic nitro- 

 methane. It is to be expected that the ester 



HaC = NOCO2C2H5 



II 



O 



will at first be formed, and this compound must, by intramolecular 

 oxidation, lose water, and be converted into carbyloximecarbonic ester, 



H2C : NOCO2C2H5 = C : NOCO2C2H5 + H2O, 



II 

 O 



which then will be further oxidized by the ester 



CH2 = N-OCOOC2H6 



II 

 



to carbon dioxydoximecarbonic ester, O: C: NOCOjCoHs, and at the 

 same time thus formoximecarbonic ester, CH2 : NOCO2C2H5, will be 

 formed. 



Concluding Remarks. 



The above experiments suffice to prove, witli absolute precision, 

 that the metal in the nitroparaffine salts is bound to oxygen, and not, 

 as has been previously supposed, to carbon ; and in consequence, the 

 hypothesis that there are organic substances of an acid nature, in 

 whose salts the metal is bound to carbon, is no longer tenable. Its 



