1 6 ELECTROLYSIS AND ELECTROSYNTHESIS 



of ethane can be explained by assuming either the 

 direct oxidation of the acetic acid, 



or the decomposition of the anion, 



CH 3 COO\ _ c H 4- 2 CO 

 CH 8 COO/- ^""t U '' 



Kkule l advanced a theory based on the phenom- 

 ena of decomposition, and from this deduced certain 

 formulae which make i* possible to predict the nature 

 of the products resulting from the electrolysis of 

 monobasic and dibasic acids of the fatty acid series. 



Since, however, the reaction is influenced by the 

 slightest variation of conditions, his formulae hold 

 good only in the case of the decomposition of per- 

 fectly pure substances, a condition seldom met in 

 practice. 



Lob a is in favor of accepting the theory advanced 

 by Kekule, who in the case of phthalic and acetic 

 acids sought by experiment to prove the intermediate 

 formation of the anhydride, while Schall 8 assumes the 

 formation of an acid superoxide: 



R.COO -- h R.COO = R.COO\ 



R.COO/ 



R.COO\ ^ TJ , -m 

 R.COO/ = a ' 



1 Lieb. Ann., 131, 79. 



8 Ztschr. f. Elektrochemie, 3, 42. 



3 Ztschr. f. Elektrochemie, 3, 83. . 



