THE 

 LONDOX, EDINBURGH, and DUBLIN 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



OCTOBER 1877. 



XXXII. On Picoline and its Derivatives. By William Ram- 

 say, Ph.D., Tutorial Assistant of Chemistry in the Glasgow 

 University*. 



IN my last memoir (Pliil. Mag. Oct. 1876) it was remarked 

 that the attempt to prepare pyridine, or bases of the 

 same series, by passing hydrocyanic acid and acetylene through 

 a red-hot tube was successful. I have repeated this experi- 

 ment on a somewhat larger scale ; the bases were purified 

 by boiling them with nitro-hydrochloric acid ; the salts were 

 decomposed with sodium hydrate, and the liberated bases dis- 

 tilled over with water-yapour, neutralized with hydrochloric 

 acid, and transformed into platinum chlorides. On ignition, 

 the platinum was found to amount to 34" 6 per cent., while 

 pyridine platinichloride contains o5*4 per cent, of platinum. 

 It therefore appears that a mixture of these bases, as well as 

 condensation-products of acetylene, is produced by the mutual 

 action of acetylene and hydrocyanic acid. The yield is ex- 

 tremely small ; as before, not more than a few drops of the 

 bases were obtained; but were all other proof wanting, their 

 smell would afford sufficient proof of their formation. 



Picoline cyomate. — The reaction which takes place between 

 primary and secondary organic bases and cyanic acid made it 

 appear of interest to ascertain the behaviour of a tertiary 

 base under similar circumstances. 



Pure picoline hydrochloride, prepared by adding excess of 

 strong hydrochloric acid to picoline and distilling from a 



* Communicated by tlie Author. 

 Phil Mag. S. 5. Yol. L No. 25. Oct. 1877. R 



