CHEMISTRY. GO? 



(Iroclilorido in ;i solid state outwardly resembles indigo in every respect, 

 and its solution shows the same absorption spectrum as iudigo. Tlic 

 internal constitution of this complicated molecule has not been ascer- 

 tained. 



The salts of tvimethylenedicarboxylic acid (1:1) with ammonium, sil- 

 ver, copper, barium, and lead, form well-defined crystallized bodies. (J. 

 Ghem. iSoc. London, 1885, 80.) 



Syntheses of Derivatives of Urea (by Robert Behrend). — By the a<;tion 

 of one molecule of acetic ether on one molecule of urea in alcoholic so- 

 lution, the author obtained /J-nramidocrotonic ether in accordance with 



the equation: 



C6H10O3+ CON3H4 = C7Hi^03N,+ H,0. 



This body forms silky needles, melting at 165c> to 166° O, insoluble in 

 water, and crystallizing easily from alcohol. With alcoholic soda 

 solution the salt CsHTNgOaNa forms with separation of alcohol. This 

 sodium salt, treated with acids (even carbonic acid is active), yields the 

 body CsHeNgOa, for which the author proposes the name methyluracil, a 

 name, however, not intended to indicate constitution. Methyluracil 

 crystallizes from hot water in colorless needles; it is soluble in alcohol and 

 insoluble in ether. It is decomposed on heating to 270°— 280°, becom 

 ing blackened and not melting. It dissolves easily in soda and potassa 

 solutions, forming salts identical with those of uramidocrotonic ether. 

 Theoretical considerations, which we cannot here detail, lead the author 

 to adopt provisionally the following constitutional formula, for methy- 

 luracil : 



I 

 NH— C 



/ II 



CO OH 



N=C— OH 



Bromine acts on methyluracil in the cold and yields brommethyl- 

 uracil CsHsBrNoOa, a body crystallizing in microscopic prisms. Bromine 

 converts this into a di-brom-compound. Strong nitric acid converts 

 methyluracil into a nitco-compound, C5H3N3O6, which, by loss of car- 

 bonic acid, yields CiH3N304 nitro uracil. The latter is reduced by tin 

 and hydrochloric acid to, C4H5N3O2, amido uracil ; and this in turn by 

 oxidation yields oxy-uracil, C4H4N2O3, an isomer of barbituric acid. 

 Amido-uracil unites with cyanic acid, forming hydroxyxanthin, on which 

 body the author continues his researches. {LieMgls Annalen roxxix, 1 .) 



Synthesis of Cocaine, the Netc Anwsthetic (by W. Merck). — At the chem- 

 ical manufactory of E. Merck, iti Dai mstadt, a quantity of a lye i)roduct 

 was obtained in the extraction of cocaine, which was sent for examina- 

 tion to W. Merck, in Kiel. It formed a colorless, crystallizable body, 



