304 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



A cetone — Chlorine — A cid 



Chlorine, 6.26 grams; acetone, 0.451 grams 

 The acetone used was Merck's and was redistilled. The values 

 obtained are shown in Curve III, which is quite similar to that 

 obtained with ether. It was noticed, on removing the conductivity 

 cell at the conclusion of the experiment, that the liquid had separated 

 into two distinct layers. These differed only very slightly in colour 

 but when mixed by shaking separated again in a few moments. The 

 constitution of these layers is a .question for further investigation. 



A cetone — Toluene — H CI 



Acetone, 0.577 grams; toluene, 4.05 grams 

 The question suggested itself, does the chlorine actually play an 

 active part in the ionization of these solutions, or is the observed 

 conductivity due to the ether and HCl alone, the chlorine serving 

 only to dilute the solution? To throw some light on this problem a 

 series of measurements was made using toluene in place of chlorine. 

 Toluene was selected as a solvent unlikely to enter into combination 

 or exercise any ionizing effect. The toluol used was freed from water, 

 etc., by cooling it in the ether-carbon dioxide bath and filtering 

 several times through asbestos, until it no longer appeared turbid at 

 that temperature. Acetone was used as the solute, approximately 

 the same quantities being used as in the case of the acetone-chlorme 

 measurements. The results are shown in Curve IV. 



It may be seen from the graphs that there is a decided similarity 

 between the behaviour of the chlorine and the toluene solutions, 

 although the values for the conductivity are much smaller in the 

 latter case. However, instead of a gradual increase in conductivity 

 with time, after each addition of HCl, there was an immediate increase, 

 followed by a gradual and slight decrease to a steady value. 



These facts seem to indicate that the chlorine takes no part in 

 the ionization of the solution. Apparently the chlorine oxonium 

 compound must be largely decomposed by hydrochloric acid before 

 a conducting solution is formed. 



Summary 



1. The properties of liquid chlorine as an ionizing solvent have 

 been examined and the observations of Johnson and Mcintosh con- 

 firmed. No inorganic substance was found which is ionized in this 

 solvent and none of the ordinary organic compounds. Ether, alcohol, 



