SUNLIGHT UPON METHYL ALCOHOL. 65 
A sample of methyl alcohol purified by the fourth method was 
mixed with an equal volume of water and exposed for two days 
(Nov. 2, 1911, to Nov. 4, 1911) in a flat dish covered by a quartz 
plate to the action of the sun’s rays and then tested. A consider- 
able amount of formaldehyde was found to be present. 
The contents of a number of the tubes, and the alcohol 
exposed in the dish last mentioned, were tested for hydrogen 
peroxide by means of the titanium and the vanadium reagents, 
with negative results. 
It is interesting to note that almost all of the above exposures 
were made at a season of the year which is most unfavorable 
for sunlight work in this locality, not only because the sun is so 
far in the south but also because of the large number of cloudy 
days. 
It is probable that little or no formic acid results from the 
oxidation, for a number of solutions tested showed no acidity 
with blue litmus paper. 
B. THE OXIDATION OF METHYL ALCOHOL BY HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. 
It is not recognized in the literature that methyl alcohol and 
hydrogen peroxide react with each other. 
Lobry de Brun ~ found that methyl alcohol was oxidized to formaldehyde 
by chlorine or bromine. The reaction rate depends upon the temperature 
and is much more rapid in the case of ethyl alcohol. 
Fenton and Jackson,” as a result of their experiments, state that all 
the monohydric alcohols examined, namely methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, 
and amyl alcohols, were unaffected by hydrogen peroxide either in the 
presence or absence of ferrous sulphate, while in the case of the polyhydric 
alcohols, hydrogen peroxide was practically without effect in the absence 
of ferrous iron and active in its presence. Their solutions were tested 
with Fehling’s solution and Schiff’s rosaniline reagent with negative 
results. 
In connection with the oxidation of ethyl alcohol it is interesting to 
note the work of Chauvin™ upon distilled beverages. He found that by 
treatment with hydrogen peroxide the musty taste and odor could be 
completely removed from brandy and rum. Among the changes produced, 
a remarkable increase in the aldehydes was especially noted. An increase 
in the aldehydes also resulted on adding hydrogen peroxide to rectified 
spirits. 
The catalytic oxidation of methyl alcohol to formaldehyde has lately 
been studied by Orlov™ and he has determined the conditions required 
for setting the catalyzer aglow and converting methyl alcohol into 
* Ber. d. deutschen chem. Ges. (18938), 26, 272. 
* Journ. Chem. Soc. London (1899), 75, 1. 
*8 Mon. Sci. through Chem. Abstracts (1909), 3, 2726; (1910), 4, 949. 
»J. Russ, Phys. Chem. Soc. 39, 855, through Chem. Abstracts (1908), 
268, 1692, 3346; (1909), 3, 1147. 
Bo 
