264 



CYANOGEN COMPOUNDS 



[172 A. 



deval, Comp. Rend. 50, noo ; Hempel, 

 Ber. 23, 3390 ; De Lambilly, Journ. 

 Soc. Ch. Ind. 11, 604; 1006; Young, 

 Eng. Pat. 24856 of 1893 : for technical 

 production of cyanides from atmospheric 

 nitrogen or ammonia and carbon in 

 presence of fused alkali see also Pfleger's 

 Germ. Pats. 88115 of 1894 and 

 89594 of 1895; Ber. 29, Ref. 748 and 

 1197 ; Stassfurter Ch. Fab., Eng. Pats. 

 9350, 9351, and 9352 of 1900; Journ. 

 Soc. Ch. Ind. 20, 77 : for production 

 of cyanides from atmospheric nitrogen 

 and fused alkali in presence of carbon 

 and iron see Victor Alder's Germ. Pats. 

 12351 of 1880; Ber. 14, 1126; 18945 

 of 1881 ; Ber. 15, 1776; also Tauber, 

 Ber. 32, 3152 : for production of 

 barium cyanide from barium carbide 

 and atmospheric nitrogen in the electric 

 furnace see Bradley and Jacobs, Eng. Pat. 

 7558 of 1 900; for manufacture of calcium 

 cyanide and cyanamide by means of 

 the electric furnace from calcium carbide 

 and nitrogen see Erlwein and Frank, 

 Amer. Pat. 708333 of 1902 ; Journ. Soc. 

 Ch. Ind. 21, 1232; Erlwein, Zeit. 

 angew. Ch. 16, 533 : for production of 

 hydrogen cyanide from metallic cyan- 

 ides see Feld's Eng. Pat. 24904 of 

 1901 ; Journ. Soc. Ch. Ind. 21, 1553). 



Potassium cyanide is formed by pass- 

 ing carbon monoxide and nitrogen over 

 a fused mixture of potassium carbonate 

 and carbon (Possoz and Boissiere, Wag- 

 ner's Jahresber. 1855, 83, from the 

 ' London Journ. of Arts/ 1845, 380), 

 or by passing carbon monoxide and 

 ammonia through a fused mixture of 

 potassium hydroxide and carbon (Young 

 and Macfarlane, Eng. Pat. 3092 of 

 1892). 



Sodamide gives sodium cyanide when 

 heated in an atmosphere of carbon 

 monoxide (Beilstein and Geuther, Ann. 

 108, 91 ; Conroy, Journ. Soc. Ch. Ind. 



Fused sodium in contact with carbon 

 gives sodium cyanide when heated in 

 an atmosphere of ammonia, sodamide 

 and cyanamide being formed as inter- 

 mediate products (Castner, Eng. Pats. 

 12218 and 12219 of 1894: see also 

 Deutsch.Gold-u.Silber-Scheide-Anstalt, 

 &c., Germ. Pat. 126241 of 1900; Ch. 



Centr. 1901, 2, 1184; Eng. Pats. 

 21 820 of 1900 and 3329 of 1901; Journ. 

 Soc. Ch. Ind. 20, 1113 and 21, 345; 

 also Darling, Journ. Franklin Inst. Jan. 

 1902). Barium cyanide is formed by 

 passing carbon monoxide over heated 

 barium nitride (Maquenne, Comp. Rend. 

 114, 221). 



Ammonium cyanide is formed when 

 ammonia is passed over heated carbon 

 (Kuhlmann, Ann. 38, 62 ; Journ. pr. 

 Ch. 16, 482 ; Lance, Comp. Rend. 124, 

 819; Lance and De Bourgade, Germ. 

 Pat. 100775 of 1897; Ch. Centr. 1899, 



1, 766; Eng. Pat. 26326 of 1897 : for 

 production of ammonium cyanide by 

 passing ammoniacal gases over heated 

 e contact ' surfaces see Besenfelder's 

 Germ. Pat. 120264 of 1900; Ch. Centr. 

 1901, 1, 1125; 122144 of 1900; 

 Ibid. 2, 379 : for earlier work on 

 the production of cyanides from ammo- 

 nia and carbon see also Clouet, Ann. 

 Chim. 11, 30 ; Bonjour, Scherer's Journ. 



2, 621 ; Schroder, Ibid. 626 ; 628 ; 

 Langlois, Journ. pr. Ch. 23, 232 ; Berz. 

 Jahresber. 22, 84; Ann. 38, 64: for 

 historical summary to 1 842 see Erdmann 

 and Marchand, Journ. pr. Ch. 26, 411. 

 Scheele obtained potassium cyanide from 

 a fused mixture of ' tartar ' and coal 

 or graphite and ammonium chloride, 

 1 Sammtliche phys. u. chem. Werke/ 

 Hermbstadt, Vol. II, p. 345). 



Potassium cyanide is formed when 

 ammonia is passed into a heated mix- 

 ture of carbon and potassium carbonate 

 or hydroxide (Desfosses, loc. cit. ; Kuhl- 

 mann, loc. cit. ; Griineberg, Flemming, 

 and Siepermann, Eng. Pat. 13697 of 

 1889 ; Beilby, Eng. Pat. 4820 of 1891; 

 Siepermann, Eng. Pat. 13754 of 1893; 

 Riepe, Germ. Pat. 105051 of 1898; Ch. 

 Centr. 1899, 2, 1080). 



Sodium cyanide is formed by passing 

 ammonia over a heated mixture of 

 sodium carbonate and zinc with or with- 

 out carbon (Hood and Salamon, Eng. 

 Pat. 21239 of 1893). Alkaline cyanides 

 are formed by passing ammonia over 

 a mixture of alkaline sulphide and 

 charcoal at a red heat (Grossmann, Eng. 

 Pat. 24011 of 1899; also Germ. Pat. 

 121555 of 1900; Ch. Centr. 1901, 2, 

 68). Ammonium chloride and borax 



