523 



XII. Researches on the Phosphorus-Bases/' By A. W, HOF- 

 MANN, LL.D., F.R.S., and AUGUSTE CAHOUIIS, F.C.S. 

 Received June 13, 1857. 



'(Abstract.) 



In a note on the action of chloride of methyl upon phosphide of 

 calcium, communicated more than ten years ago to the Institute of 

 France (Comptes Rendus, t. xxi. p. 144, ad t. xxv. p. 892), M. Paul 

 Thenard pointed out the existence of a series of bodies which cor- 

 respond to the compounds of phosphorus with hydrogen, which may, 

 in fact, be viewed as phosphoretted hydrogens, the hydrogen of 

 which is replaced by an equivalent quantity of methyl. 



It is now many years since M. Paul Thenard abandoned the 

 study of the phosphorus-compounds, for the first knowledge of 

 Nirhich we are indebted to him. The unfinished state in which 

 these researches remained, and the rich and abundant harvest collected 

 since that period, in all the neighbouring fields of science, necessitated 

 a revision of the subject. The discovery of methylamine, dimethyl- 

 amine, and trimethylamine, and of the corresponding terms in the 

 ethyl- and amyl-series, had shown that the hydrogen in ammonia may 

 be replaced by binary molecules, such as methyl, ethyl, amyl and 

 phenyl, the newly-formed compounds retaining the basic character 

 of the original ammonia molecule ; whilst the production of triethyl- 

 stibine and triethylarsine had furnished the proof that the total 

 replacement of the hydrogen in the indifferent antimonietted and 

 arsenietted hydrogens exalts the chemical character of these com- 

 pounds in a most remarkable manner, the methylated and ethylated 

 bodies exhibiting basic characters scarcely inferior to those of am- 

 monia itself. It remained, therefore, to be investigated whether 

 phosphorus, which by its chemical tendencies stands between 

 nitrogen and arsenic, would exhibit a similar deportment. It had 

 to be ascertained in what manner the gradual entrance of binary 

 molecules in the place of the hydrogen in phosphoretted hydro- 

 gen would change the character of the original compound. Again, 

 the discovery of the tetrethylated ammonium-bases had opened 

 a new field of research, in which the corresponding terms of the 

 antimony- and arsenic-series were rapidly brought to light. It was 

 indeed possible to predict with certainty, that an appropriately 

 selected method would lead to the production of the analogous 



VOL. VIII. 2 Q 



