136 Prof. Strecker on some Compounds of Acetamide. 



perature solidifies in the condenser : above 190° C. the distillate 

 consists almost entirely of pure acetamide. Kiindig found the 

 boiling-point to be 223° C, which agrees with that found by 

 Dumas, Malaguti, and Leblanc. 



The largest yield of acetamide is obtained when dry ammo- 

 niacal gas is passed for some hours through glacial acetic acid, 

 which is at first kept cool, but can afterwards be heated to inci- 

 pient ebullition. On subsequent distillation, above one-fourth 

 of the glacial acid is obtained as acetamide. 



Strecker has investigated some of the compounds and decom- 

 positions of acetamide*. He shows that this body, which is uni- 

 versally considered to be a neutral amide, has the property, like 

 glycocoll, aniline and leucine, and like benzamide, the type of 

 a neutral amide, of forming definite combinations with acids. 

 Their preparation is very difficult from their ready solubility, 

 and from the ease with which acetamide decomposes into am- 

 monia and acetic acid. 



Hydrochlorate of Acetamide was first obtained by treating acet- 

 amide with oxychloride of phosphorus, but is best prepared by 

 treating a solution of acetamide in fether-alcohol with hydro- 

 chloric acid gas. If care be taken to prevent a rise of tem- 

 perature, by cooling the liquid and merely passing the gas to the 

 surface, it solidifies to a mass of crystals. These are washed 

 with scther, in which they are insoluble, and are then dissolved 

 in warm alcohol, from which tliey separate on cooling in long 

 lance-shapcd crystals. They are soluble in alcoliol and in water, 

 but not in fether, arc strongly acid, and their alcoholic solution 

 gives no precipitate with bichloride of platinum. The crystals 

 gave on analysis numbers agreeing with the formula 

 2C'»H5N0^ + IIC1. 



Nitrate of Acetamide. — When acetamide is dissolved in cold 

 strong nitric acid and the solution exposed to the air in shallow 

 vessels, colourless crystals are formed which are nitrate of acet- 

 amide. It has the formula 



C4H5N02 + II0N05. 



Mercury Acetamide, C"* II** Hg NO^, is formed by adding yel- 

 low oxide of mercury to a solution of acetamide. The oxide dis- 

 appears at first very easily, but afterwards it is necessary to warm 

 the solution with excess of oxide. On evaporating the filtered 

 solution in vacuo, colourless crystalline crusts are obtained, which 

 are readily soluble in water, but spai'ingly soluble in alcohol. 



Silver Acetamide is formed by adding freshly precipitated oxide 

 of silver to aqueous solution of acetamide. Onfiltration and evapo- 

 ration, crystalline plates' of the conjpound in question are obtained. 



* Licbig's Annalen, September 185/. 



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