l7o 



NATURE 



{^Angtist 15, 1889 



ethylic alcohol, ethylic acid, benzoic alcohol, benzoic acid. 

 — M. Grimaux's proposition was adopted. 



The Use of the Prefixes bi- afid dl-. — M. Bouveault 

 proposed, in the name of M. Hanriot, that the prefix bi 

 should be reserved for the denomination of bodies formed 

 by the duplication of orji^anic radicles ; the words diprop- 

 argyljdiphenyl, dinaphthyl to be replaced by bipropargyl, 

 bipheny], binaphthyl.^ M. Maquenne preferred to use 

 di instead of bi for these double radicles ; but it was 

 jpointed out that there were only about twelve bodies 

 whose names would need to be changed to be in harmony 

 •with M. Hanriot's proposition, whereas the converse 

 iproposition would be much more difficult of adoption. — 

 M, Grimaux thought that in any case it would be 

 difficult to alter existing nomenclature at once, but pro- 

 posed that the Congress should express a wish that M. 

 Hanriot's system of nomenclature should be adopted for 

 all new bodies, and should gradually replace the existing 

 one. — M. Grimaux's modification of M. Hanriot's proposi- 

 tion was adopteo. 



The Use of the Suffix -ol. — M. Grimaux proposed that 

 the suffix -ol should be restricted as far as possible to the 

 alcohols, and that the names of all hydrocarbons should 

 contain the letter n. He proposed that the ending -ene 

 employed by English chemists, should be made use of for 

 the aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzine and naphtaline in 

 French, benzol in German, would be replaced by the 

 English terms benzene and naphthalene. — M. Graebe 

 warmly supported this proposition, and further suggested 

 the abbreviation of naphthalene to naphthene. — M. 

 Grimaux's proposition was adopted. 



Ketones. — M. Friedel pointed out the ambiguity which 

 exists in the French nomenclature of the acetones. Di- 

 methyl acetone might mean either the body CO(CH3)o or 

 else CH3— CHo— CO — CH._, — CH3 (or its isomer). He pro- 

 posed to adopt the German notation for these bodies, and 

 in general to replace the word carbo?iyl hy the word cetone 

 (this form being more adapted to the French language 

 than ketone). Dimethyl cetone is then ordinary acetone. 

 — The proposition was adopted. 



The Group — CElN. — M. Bouveault proposed to name 

 this group (Mrbazil. — M. Calderon and other members of 

 the Congress were in favour of this name. It was also 

 proposed to use the word nitrite universally. — M. 

 Grimaux then pointed out that, as we made no distinc- 

 tion of nomenclature between the molecule and the 

 half-molecule of chlorine, it would be unnecessary to do 

 so in the case of cyanogen, and he proposed that the 

 group — CHN be denoted by the name cyanogen. — M. 

 Grimaux's proposition was adopted. 



The Sulphur Compounds. — M. Chabrie read a report 

 on the sulphur compounds. He complained that a 

 certain number of chemists used the term siilphine for 

 compounds containing no oxygen, and which should 

 properly be termed sulphides. He proposed that the 

 name sulphine should be reserved for compounds of the 

 formula (SO)R„, sulphones for compounds (SU3)R2, de- 

 rived respectively from sulphurous and sulphuric acids. 

 This nomenclature is used by Beilstein in his invaluable 

 compilation. It is naturally applicable to corresponding 

 selenium and tellurium compounds. — It was decided to 

 refer M. Chabri^'s report to the Permanent Committee. 



Ring Formula; containing Nitrogen. — M. Bouveault 

 read a long report on the subject. He proposed to adopt 

 Widmann's nomenclature, with certain modifications in 

 the details. — A protracted discussion ensued, and finally 

 M. Graebe proposed that M. Bouveault's report should 

 be printed and widely distributed, so as to elicit the 

 opinion of all the chemists who had specially devoted 



" It maybe mentioned that whereas in England the use of the prefix bi- 

 has been almost entirely abandoned, in France it is still employed, though no 

 rules for its use have hitherto been given ; the terms di-nitro benzine and 

 l}enzine bi-nitre denote the same body. 



themselves to the study of these compounds, and this was 

 agreed to.^ 



Naphthalene. — M. Noelting read a report on the nomen- 

 clature of the naphthalene derivatives. He began by 

 describing the various notations of Beilstein, Graebe and 

 Noelting, Meldola, Weinberg, and the Swedish chemists. 

 He proposed to denote the carbon atoms of the naphtha- 

 lene ring by figures and to extend this system to anthra- 

 cene, phenanthrene, &c. M. Noelting's proposal was 

 adopted after discussion. The figures will be found 

 below in the summary of the resolutions of the Congress. 

 — It was agreed, on the suggestion of M. Auger, that when 

 it was known that the radicles of a given di-substituted 

 compound were in different rings, but their exact position 

 was uncertain, they should be denoted by the symbol 

 AB. 



Benzene. — M. Combes read a report on the numera- 

 tion of substituted benzene derivatives. He proposed to 

 assign the place (i) to the hydrocarbon radicle containing 

 the smallest number of atoms of carbon : in the absence 

 of a hydrocarbon radicle he proposed to begin with the 

 group having the lowest "molecular weight." — M. Combes 

 gave as the reason for choosing the simplest hydrocarbon 

 for the position (i) that it was this one which was gener- 

 ally attacked last by oxidizing agents. 



M. Alexeieff pointed out that the oxidation of para- 

 cymene, C^Hj . CH3 . C3H7, by the action of air and caustic 

 soda, gives rise to cuminic acid, CfiH4. CO^H . C^H^, and 

 that in this case the position (i) would be changed, although 

 there was no transposition in the molecule.^ 



M. Combe's report was referred to the Permanent 

 Committee. 



The general rtieeting for the discussion of the report of 

 Section IV. was held under the presidency of M. Friedel, 

 in the absence of M. Berthelot. 



The following resolutions were adopted : — ■ 



(i) That an International Committee, with power to add 

 to its number, be formed, whose object shall be to pro- 

 mote uniformity of chemical nomenclature. 



The following gentlemen were nominated to serve on 

 the Paris Committee : — MM. Berthelot, Friedel, Gautier, 

 Grimaux, Jungfleisch, Behal, Bouveault, Combes, Fau- 

 connier. 



That the Committee shall immediately request the fol- 

 lowing gentlemen to join them : — MM. Alexeieff (Russia), 

 Armstrong (England), Baeyer (Germany), ISeilstein 

 (Russia), Boukowski Bey (Turkey), Calderon (Spain), 

 Cleve ( Scandinavia), Franchimont (Holland), Graebe 

 (Switzerland), Istrati (Roumania), Lieben (Austria-Hun- 

 gary), Noelting (Germany), Paterno (Italy), Ira Remsen 

 (United States). 



(2) The two carbon atoms in ethylene, and the two 

 hydrogen atoms in urea, shall be distinguished by the 

 letters a and b (proposed by MM. Graebe and Franchi- 

 mont). 



(3) The aldehydes shall be named after their cor- 

 responding alcohols (proposed by M. Grimaux). 



(4) The word carbonyl shall be replaced by the word 

 cetone ^ (proposed by M. Friedel). 



(5) The group — C=N in organic compounds shall 

 be called cyanogen, instead of nitrile (proposed by M. 

 Grimaux). 



(6) The suffix -ol shall be reserved as far as possible 

 for alcohols. In the hydrocarbons it is to be replaced by 

 the ending -ene (proposed by M. Grimaux). 



(7) The prefix bi- shall in future be reserved for bodies 

 formed by the union of two radicles such as biphenyl 

 (CgHJaj bipropargyl (CsHs),, and the Congress expresses 



' The nomenclature of the pyridine and quinoleine derivatives agreed to 

 by the Section was afterwards referred back to the Committee. 



2 It may be remarked that this difficuhy is inherent to the case, since the 

 oxidation of par&cymene by chromic acid gives rise to paratuluic acid. 



3 Ihi* Sfiplics only to French nomenclature. 



