Gerhardt 1 s Organic Chemistry. 181 



In the amides and ethers the ammonia and alcohol are active 

 by their hydrogen, which unites with the oxygen of the acid ; if 

 we represent the residue of ammonia NH 3 - H 2 by Am and that of 

 alcohol C 2 H 6 5 H 2 by Al replacing O ; the neutral amide of ox- 

 alic acid will be C 2 H., 2 A?n 2 and oxamic acid C, H 2 O^ Am; 

 oxalic ether will be C 2 H 2 2 ^/ 2 , and oxalovinic acid CjH 2 3 AL 

 The action of ammonia upon neutral ethers results in the regen- 

 eration of alcohol and the formation of amide. In this way 

 Malaguti has succeeded in forming an immense number of amides. 

 When ammonia is added to oxalic ether in a quantity insufficient 

 to form oxamide, a beautiful crystalline, neutral compound results, 

 which was first discovered by M. Dumas and by him named 

 oxamethane ; it is an ether-amide and its composition may be 

 represented by C 2 H 2 Am Al. Oxamethane is an example of a 

 large class of similar compounds which are formed by the action 

 of ammonia upon the bibasic ethers ; M. Gerhardt adopts for 

 them the generic name of amethanes. The sulphuric ether of 

 wood-spirit, with ammonia, forms snip hamephy lane, which is 

 8H g 3 Am Al, the ether being SH 2 O a Al.,. 

 ■ The ethers of the organic acids are often formed by heating 

 tne acid with alcohol, but the action is slow and incomplete, and 

 they are best obtained by distilling a mixture of the alcohol and 

 acid with sulphuric acid. When the ether is not volatile it is 

 easily prepared by passing hydrochloric acid gas through a hot 

 solution of the acid in alcohol ; in this way the ethers of the 

 fatty acids are obtained. The ethers are generally artificial com- 

 pounds, and produced by the reaction of the alcohol and acid ; 

 the salicylic ether of wood-spirit however, constitutes the princi- 

 pal part of the essential oil of wintergreen, Gaultheria prociim- 

 fefc#, and similarity between the odors of many ethers and those 

 of ditferent fruits, renders it not improbable that the odor of the 

 fetter may be due to them. Benzoic ether has been observed as 

 a product in the dry distillation of the resin of Toln balsam. 



The ethers of the hydracids contain, like the other ethers of 

 Monobasic acid, the elements of one equivalent of alcohol and 

 °ne of acid minus one equivalent of water ; but the acid does 

 n ot contain either the oxygen or hydrogen to form the water 

 eliminated, and hence, according to the view just given, they 

 cannot be regarded as ethers. M. Gerhardt considers them as 

 s Pecies, derived from the compound C 3 H 6 , to which he has 

 mm the name of aretene. Hydro-chloric ether is chlonnized 

 acetene C a H CI : when heated with potassium it is decomposed 



^d yield 



2 



3 



pound 



« ; C, H 5 K. This is decomposed by water into potash and an 

 j^y %uid, which was described by Lowig as the radical ethyle, 

 bu * is really acetene. The hyponitrous ether of Liebig is nitric 



The corresponding compounds of wood- 



Q ceteneC H 



2 



