1011 
The base of the secondary-formed hydrochloride would then possess 
the following structure 
HOH 
OIC C/OH (LI) 
a 
H 
One molecule of this base is capable of combining, with one mol. 
of hydrogen chloride only, to a solid salt; its dissociation constant 
is only 4, = 3.105. In fact, similar imido-compounds are exceed- 
ingly feeble bases; dissociation constants thereof are not known. In 
the case in question the presence of the secondary aleohol group 
, 
H.C.OH wiil, owing to its property of forming salts with weak 
bases, still further Jower the basic character of the imido-group. 
The base of the liquid hydrochloride is still weaker than that of 
the two solid salts. Here, the BrcKMANN rearrangement appears to 
have also passed through the second phase, thus forming the car- 
bonyl group C: O, the eycle being broken up. Whether we are 
really dealing here. with a derivative of formamide can only be 
decided when the hydrochloride of this substance has been more 
closely investigated. 
How can the above structure formulae explain the remarkable 
decompositions which Dunstan and Bossr (loc. cit. p. 358) have 
studied. An aqueous solution of the salt (CH,: NOH), HCI or of 
the trimolecular acetyl derivative, heated with an excess of hydro- 
chlorie acid in a sealed tube at 120°, yielded after a few hours a 
mixture of hydroxylamine and formaldehyde on one side and of 
ammonia and formic acid on the other side. The more concentrated 
the hydrochloric acid the more of the first mixture was formed. 
An excess of H-ions would shift the equilibrium between the 
trimolecular bases in the direction of the strongest base as this 
suffers most from salt formation. In fact, this strongest base (1) 
must according to its structure, yield hydroxylamine and formalde- 
hyde with absorption of water. The weaker base, however, must 
then yield ammonia and formic acid, which is, of course, to be 
expected from the structure. 
The reduction of the salt (CH,: NOH),. HCI, where according 
to Dunstan and Bossi (loc, cit. p. 359) all the nitrogen is converted 
