THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



Without dwelling on further details of 

 this subject, it is sufficient for the present 

 purpose to state that the progress of 

 modern science has entirely changed our 

 ideas respecting the sharp lines of divi- 

 sion which were formerly thought to ex- 

 ist between the animal and vegetable, 

 and between the nature of artificial chem- 

 ical compounds and those produced by 

 biochemical action in the living organ- 

 ism. We stand, therefore, face to face 

 with the fact that it is possible to pro- 

 duce, by artificial means in the labor- 

 atory compounds which have heretofore 

 been the results of exclusive biochemical 

 functional activity of living organisms. 

 One remarkable fact in connection with 

 Wohler's synthesis of an organic com- 

 pound is of interest here. While all the 

 chemical world wondered at Wohler's 

 achievement, nearly fifty years elapsed 

 before this rich field of chemical progress 

 was further cultivated to any extent, 

 with the single exception of the synthesis 

 of acetic acid by Kolbe, in 1845. But 

 since that time remarkable progress has 

 been made. It is not my purpose here 

 to recite in detail the synthetic accom- 

 plishments of Berthelot, Kekule, Kolbe, 

 Maumene. Baeyer, Hoffmann, Frank- 

 land, Ladenberg, Fischer, and many 

 other celebrated workers in this field. 1 

 For the put pose of the present paper, 

 only two points in organic chemical svn- 

 thesis need be considered ; viz., first, the 

 economy of the process, and second, the 

 probability of the production of food 

 compounds suited to the nourishment of 

 man. 



In respect of the first point, we find 

 many illustrative examples of synthetic 

 products which are furnished at a so small 

 an expense as to practically exclude from 

 the market the corresponding natural 

 articles. Among these may be mention- 

 ed salicylic acid made artificially by 

 Kolbe's process. Salicylic acid occurs 

 as a natural product in the flowers of 



1 See Rise and Development of Organic Chemistry, by 

 C Schorlemmer, revised edition, 1894. 

 -J. prakt. Chem., 2, 10, 93. 



Spirea ulmaria and as a methyl ether in 

 the oil of wintergreen {Gaultheria p)o- 

 cumbens). It can be formed by synthesis 

 in various ways, as, for instance, by 

 fusion of salicylaldehyde with potassium 

 hydroxide. Salicine, coumarine, indigo, 

 cresol, or toluenesulphonic acid may be 

 substituted for the salicylaldehyde. When 

 phenyl carbonate is heated with a caustic 

 alkali, salicylic acid is also produced. It 

 may also be obtained when an alkaline 

 solution of phenol is boiied with carbon 

 tetrachloride. But none of these pro- 

 cesses, although of great interest chem- 

 ically, have any value commercially save 

 that of Kolbe, or more properly, Kolbe 

 and L,autemann, which consists of 

 passing carbon dioxide into sodium 

 phenylate. 



But it will be observed that the phenol 

 which is the base of the process, is itself 

 an organic compound, or the result of 

 the destructive distillation of an organic 

 compound produced by nature. It is not 

 impossible to produce phenol by artificial 

 synthesis. It is said that by surrounding 

 the points of an electric arc light with 

 hydrogen that carbon and hydrogen com- 

 bine to form acetylene, C\ Ho. Accord- 

 ing to Berthelot,- fuming sulfuric acid 

 absorbs acetylene and the product so 

 formed fused with coustic soda forms 

 phenol or sodium phenate. But it needs 

 no further illustration to show that a 

 phenol formed in this manner could never, 

 on account of its great cost, be used for 

 the commercial manufacture of salicylic 

 acid. 



A distinction should be made in this 

 matter between the formation of possible 

 food products by synthesis from existing 

 organic natural bodies, and the synthesis 

 which begins with the inorganic elements 

 themselves. The transformation of one 

 organic body into another of greater value 

 to human industry is quite a different 

 matter from the building up of organic 

 bodies without the help of a living or- 

 ganism. 



3 Compt. rend. 68, 539. 



I To be continued.) 



