ON THE HYDROLYSIS OF SUGARS. 275 



E 2. — Euler's Hyper-ionic Theory of Catalysis, 



Euler has postulated the view that there is no ground for distinguish- 

 1 aqq ^^S between electrolytes and non-electrolytes and regards all sub- 

 stances as electrolytes. Cane sugar is supposed by him to be 

 slightly ionised in solution and action is said to occur between the ions 

 of cane sugar and the ions of water. The acid is supposed to bring 

 about catalysis by increasing the total number of ions in the product 

 CaCbChCoh) where A and B are the imaginary ions of sugar. It appears 

 1 qoo ^^ ^^ basic substances also should be able to invert sugar on this 

 hypothesis ! The view was also applied to catalytic oxidation by 

 platinum black. ^ 



1 qoo '^'^® same amazing theory was discussed in ' Berichte ' 33 with 



reference to the saponification of ethyl acetate, which Euler explains 

 has the character of a neutral salt. He also discussed the accele- 



1900. rating action of neutral salts on the inversion of sugar,^ assuming 

 the degree of ionisation to be changed in the sense demanded by 

 his theory. With regard to the influence of temperature,^ Euler 



1901. explained that Arrhenius's active part (Section F) is in reality the 

 proportion of the cane sugar which is dissociated into ions of 



1901. glucose and levulose. Lippmann has sharply criticised Euler's 

 theory, maintaining that sugar is a non-electrolyte. 



, o^, Euler, in his reply to Lippmann, stubbornly maintained that an 



absolute non -electrolyte is not known, although in the case of some, 



as, for instance, cane sugar, the amount of dissociation is very small. 



1 0Q, Lippmann, again replying,'* pointed out that Loomis ^ had shown 



by accurate cryoscopic methods that there is not the slightest 



dissociation of the sugars. 



Exception to Euler's hypothesis on mathematical grounds was taken 



190'> ^^ Wegscheider,^ who came to the conclusion that there is no 

 analogy, as supposed by Euler, between ester and salt hydrolysis. 



Hence Euler's theory of catalysis based on this analogy falls to the 



ground. 



, QQ.-, Euler's reply consisted simply in a reiteration of his theory, 



no new proof being ofi'ered. 



-iQQ.-j Wegscheider very effectively replied that, as the equation 



given by Euler is a self- evident identity, it cannot possibly lead to 



a reaction velocity. 



,QQo In spite of this, Kullgren endorsed Euler's theory and en- 



deavoured to calculate the temperature coefficient of inversion from 



conductivity measurements of purified water (Kohlrausch) and of solu- 

 tions of cane sugar (Madsen) at various temperatures. Euler and Kull- 

 gren, however, appear to be unable to agree as to what the ions of sugar 



really are.^ 



1904 Goldschmidt has also accepted the theory and has applied it to 



the catalysis of esters by acid, which he imagines to be an ionic 



action. 



1904 -^begg has hopes that Euler will be able to offer a better proof 



of his hypothesis based on Walker's theory of amphoteric 



electrolytes. 



' Ofvcrs Vet. Akad., 1900, 57, p. 267. » Zeits., 32. ' Zeits., 36. 



♦ Ber., 34. • Zeits. Pkysik. Chem., v. 37. 



• Zeitt., 39. • Vide Section F. 



T3 



» 



