Section III, 1922 [301] Trans. R.S.C. 



Liquid Chlorine as an Ionizing Solvent 

 By J. Mennie and D. McIntosh 

 (Read May Meeting, 1922) 



In the course of an investigation of some of the physical pro- 

 perties of liquid chlorine, Johnson and Mcintosh^ examined it as a 

 solvent and failed to find any inorganic substance which conducted 

 when dissolved in it. They observed that solutions of certain organic 

 compounds containing oxygen, such as alcohols, ethers, ketones and 

 esters, which themselves gave no evidence of ionization, began to 

 conduct when a small quantity of HCl was added. 



These substances, when dissolved in chlorine, form compounds 

 of the general type A^Cly,^ which are apparently not ionized. Plot- 

 nikov^ found that ether dissolved in bromine gave a conducting solution 

 but this was probably due to the formation of small amounts of HBr.* 

 With the halogen acids compounds of the type Ether^HCly^ are 

 formed and these conduct well.^ Transport number determinations 

 have shown that the ether is carried to the cathode, indicating that 

 it forms part of a positively charged ion.'' Johnson and Mcintosh 

 concluded that the conductivity which they observed was due to the 

 ionization of these compounds. 



The present investigation consists of a repetition of Johnson and 

 Mcintosh's qualitative tests and a quantitative study of the change 

 in conductivity of solutions of the Ether-Chlorine type with addition 

 of HCl. 



Qualitative Results 



Conductivities were measured by the Kohlrausch method, using 

 a slide-wire bridge of the ordinary type. The conductivity cell was 

 a small glass tube with sealed-in electrodes. About 4-6 ces. of 

 chlorine was used. The cell was kept in a bath of ether and solid 



ijour. Am. Chem. Soc. 31: 1138 (1909). 



2D. Mcintosh, Jour. Chem. Soc. 87: 784 (1905); Jour. Am. Chem. Soc. 33: 

 71 (1911). 



sZeit. Phys. Chem. 4: 502 (1906). 



^Johnson and Mcintosh, loc. cit., p. 1144. 



«Archibald and Mcintosh, Jour. Chem. Soc. 85: 919 (1904). 



«Steele, Mcintosh and Archibald, Phil. Trans. A-205: 99 (1905); Archibald, 

 Jour. Am. Chem. Soc. 29: 665 (1907); Maass and Mcintosh, Jour. Am. Chem. Soc. 

 35: 535 (1913). 



'Steele, Mcintosh and Archibald, loc. cit. 



