August 20, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



185 



The automatic separator in organic prepara- 

 tions: I. N. HuLTMAN, Anne W. Davis and H. T. 

 Clarke. Principle of automatic separator. Sepa- 

 ration of butyj alcohol or amyl alcohol and -water. 

 Steam distillation of aniline and similar liquids. 

 Preparation of anhydrous oxalic acid, butyl ether, 

 butyl oxalate, trimethylene chlorohydrin, and gly- 

 cerol dichlorohydrin. 



Some condensed rings containing arsenic: W. 

 Lee Lewis and W. V. Evans. Oxydiphenylene 

 chlor arsine is prepared by a modification of Pope 's 

 method condensing diphenyl ether and arsenic 

 chloride in the presence of aluminium chloride. 

 With the Grignard reagent mixed arsines of the 

 type oxydiphenylene ethyl arsine are obtained. The 

 brom, iodo, cyan, sulphocyan and hydrosulphide 

 derivatives were prepared. Chlorination gave 

 oxydiphenylene trichlorarsine which on careful 

 hydrolysis gave the oxychloride. Eromination with 

 subsequent hydrolysis yielded oxydiphenylene ar- 

 senic acid and its metal and alkaloidal salts. The 

 condensation of diphenylmethane and diphenyl 

 sulfide with arsenic chloride is being studied. 



A cooperative pamphlet on organic cliemical 

 preparations: Roger Adams, O. K. Kamm, H. T. 

 Clakke, J. B. CoNANT. An annual pamphlet is to 

 be published containing the detailed directions for 

 the preparation of various reagents which may 

 have been produced in the laboratories in which 

 the above authors work. The directions are to be 

 tested out in one of the other laboratories and not 

 until the results can be duplicated are they to be 

 published. A discussion of the reaction and bib- 

 liography of other methods of preparation are in- 

 cluded. It is hoped that others who may be car- 

 rying on investigations in organic research will be 

 willing to contribute methods of preparation for 

 various reagents which they may have developed 

 in detail in their laboratories. These will be tested 

 out and published with the others. 



The reaction between aldehydes and acid halides: 

 Eoger Adams, H. E. French and L. H. Ulich. 

 It has been shown that the reaction between aro- 

 matic acid halides and aliphatic or aromatic alde- 

 hydes and between aliphatic acid halides and ali- 

 phatic aldehydes to give compounds of the general 

 formula ECOOCHXR is very general. Early work 

 in this field showed that a number of aliphatic 

 halides and aldehydes reacted together to give 

 compounds of this type but until the above re- 

 search was undertaken no substances were ob- 

 tained between aromatic acid halides and aliphatic 



aldehydes with the exception of the compounds 

 from benzoyl chloride and formaldehyde and no 

 compounds from aromatic acid halides and aro- 

 matic aldehydes were produced with the excep- 

 tion of the compound from benzoyl bromide and 

 benzaldehyde. The reaction between aliphatic acid 

 halides and aromatic aldehydes does not seem to 

 run so smoothly and results are not yet available 

 on this point. These halogenated esters that are 

 produced react in many cases merely like a mix- 

 ture of the acid halides and aldehydes. In other 

 eases, the halogens react like the halogens in alkyl 

 halides. 



The preparation and physiological action of 

 oxazolidones and their decomposition into substi- 

 tuted B-amino ethyl alcohols: Roger Adams and 

 J. B. Segur, The oxazolidones are readily pro- 

 duced by condensing phosgene with ethylene 

 chlorohydrin to give beta-chloroethyl chlorocar- 

 bonate. This is condensed with aniline to give the 

 eorreapondiug urethane derivative and then by 

 treatment of this latter substance with alkali, the 

 oxazolidone is produced as follows: 



ClCOOCH2CHoCl^C6H6NHCOOCH2CH,Cl 



— CeHsN - COOCH2CH2. 



I . i 



If the oxazolidone is treated with excess of con- 

 centrated alkali or if the urethane derivative is 

 treated directly with excess of concentrated alkali, 

 very good yields of N-aryl amino alcohols are 

 produced. 



CeH^N - COOCH.CHz— CeHs - NHCH2CH2OH. 



I I 



The paraethoxy jAienyl oxazolidone has about the 

 same toxicity as phenacetin and as an antipyretic 

 possesses slightly greater value than phenacetin. 

 Charles L. Parsons, 



Secretary 

 (To be continued) 



THE NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF 

 SCIENCE 



The nineteenth annual meeting of the North 

 Carolina Academy of Science was held April 30 

 and May 1, 1920, at the North Carolina State Col- 

 lege of Agriculture and Engineering, West Ra- 

 leigh, N. C. At the same time the spring meeting 

 of the North Carolina Section of the American 

 Chemical Society was held. 



Among the more important business matters dis- 

 cussed and acted upon were those relating to the 

 affiliation of the academy with the American Asso- 



