284. REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 
Those interesting acids are yellow, red, or violet oils, rather unstable, strong 
acids, which are readily oxidised to the disulphides, R.CS.S.8.CS.R. 
Ketones. 
Nitriles were converted into ketones by Blaise,’ who obtains, e.g., an 
80 per cent. yield of phenylethyl ketone from magnesium ethyl iodide and 
benzonitrile :— 
ols 
C,H, MgI + 0,H,ON = C,H, . C 
: NN . MgI 
As C,H, 
CH, CK Pai: ee »e : NH + MgIOH 
Nw. MgI CH, 
va 
C : NH+H,O=NH,+(,H,. CO. C,H, 
CHAZ 
The method, however, is not always so successful as in this particular 
case. Very varying yields were also obtained by Béis,? who investigated 
the action on acid amides, which were heated for several hours with an 
excess of the reagent. The action is represented as follows :— 
R . CONH, + 2Mgh’/X=R . C(OMgX)(NHMgX)R’ + R/H 
R . CCOMgX)(NHMgX)R’ + 2H,0 = R . C(OH)(NH,)R’ + MgX, + Mg(OB), 
R. C(OH)\(NH,)R'=R. CO. R’+ NH, 
I have been able to find in the literature very few cases where ketones 
have been obtained from acid chlorides ; the latter, of course, readily 
yield tertiary alcohols. It is difficult to arrest the action in the first 
phase, R‘COCI]+ RMgX=R’ . CO. R+MgXCl. Acree * obtains phenyl 
a-naphthyl ketone from benzoyl chloride and magnesium a-naphthyl 
bromide, but the yield is not stated. Gomberg and Cone ‘ obtain benzo- 
phenone in small yieid from benzoylchloride and magnesium phenyl 
bromide. 
Benzophenone may be obtained together with benzoic and triphenyl- 
carbinol by the action of carbon dioxide on magnesium phenyl bromide,° 
thus :— 
C.H,MgBr -> C,H, . COOMgBr > (C,H,).C(OMgBr), > (C,H,),CO 
But here, again, it has not been found possible to arrest the reaction so 
as to give a satisfactory yield of ketone. The method has also been 
applied by Bodroux® for obtaining dibromo- and dichloro-derivatives of 
benzophenone, but it cannot be quoted as a general method. 
Kohler’ finds on studying the action of unsaturated ketones that if 
a methyl group is attached to the carbonyl group of the ketone the 
reaction proceeds in the same manner as with a saturated ketone shat, 
' Compt. rend., 1901, 182, 38; 188, 299, &e. Compare also Béhal, Bull. Soc. 
Chim., 1904 [3], 81, 461. 
2 Compt. rend., 1902, 187, 575. 
3 Ber., 1904, 87, 625. 4 Thid., 1906, 39, 2957. 
° Schroeter, ibid., 1903, 86, 3005 ; 1907, 40, 1584. 
* Compt. rend., 1903, 137, 710. 
* Amer. Chem. Jowrn., 1904, 81, 642; 1905, 38, 21, 35, 153, kc.; Ber., 1905, 38, 
1203. Compare Bauer and Breit, ibid., 1906, 39, 1916. 
