Structure of Simpler Organic Compounds. 65 



in the laboratory, but the product so prepared is generally 

 not very pure. A purer product can be obtained by 

 warming chloral or chloral hydrate (see p. 86) with 

 sodium hydroxide. The reaction between bleaching powder 

 and alcohol, or acetone, is a somewhat complex one. 

 Chloroform is a heavy liquid with boiling point 61. 



lodoform or tri-iodomethane is the corresponding 

 iodine compound. It is formed by a somewhat complex 

 reaction, when ethyl alcohol, acetone, aldehyde, and other 

 organic substances are warmed with iodine in the presence 

 of an alkali hydroxide or carbonate. It is a substance of 

 characteristic smell, which crystallizes in six-sided lustrous 

 plates, which melt at 120. It is largely used as an 

 antiseptic. 



Part III. The Alcohols. 



It has been already mentioned that this series of com- 

 pounds can be derived from the halogen derivatives of the 

 ! hydrocarbons when the latter are warmed with dilute 



i aqueous solutions of caustic alkalis. It was stated above 





 ! that in this reaction the halogen is replaced by a hydroxyl 



, radicle. The chief member of the group is ethyl alcohol, 



or "spirits of wine," which has been known from very 

 i early times as a product of fermentation, produced when 



yeast and other micro-organisms are allowed to grow in 

 ; solutions containing sugar. The corresponding methyl 

 I derivative, methyl alcohol, is one of the products of the 



destructive distillation of wood. 



The constitution of this substance can be represented 



by the formula 

 H 



I 

 H C H or, more simply, CH 8 (OH) 



H 



(1,997) 5 



