Action of Heat on the Salts of Triethylbenzylphosphonium. 27 



theory would produce a large error in the value deduced for 

 the conductivity. 



In the following Table, which embodies the results of 

 Graetz's second paper, k is the conductivity at the tempera- 

 ture T, and a denotes the rate of increase of k with the tem- 

 perature. Graetz, however, does not claim great accuracy in 

 the values of a. 





Liquid 

 density. 



T. 



k. 



«. 



Alcohol 



0-8204 



1-210 



1-20 



0-8692 



0-864 



0-729 



1-153 



1-1506 



1-026 



1024 



1-2728 



0-7899 



0-784 



1340 

 13-35 

 27-14 

 12-63 

 22-73 

 13-63 

 13-87 

 25-41 

 14-14 

 27-10 

 13-31 

 12-66 

 22-73 



•0327 

 •0382 

 •0444 

 •0195 

 •0208 

 •0227 

 •0674 

 •0717 

 •0698 

 •0769 

 •0160 

 •0213 

 •0237 



•012 

 •0067 



•0057 

 •0078 



•011 











Ether 



NaCl solution 





KCIO3 solution 





Carbon disulphide . . . 

 Petroleum 







II. On the Action of Heat on the Salts of Triethylbenzylphos- 

 phonium. By N. Collie, Ph.D., Lecturer on Chemistry at 

 the Ladies College, Cheltenham* . 



IN a former paper with another chemist f I drew attention 

 to the manner in which phosphonium salts decompose 

 when subjected to the action of heat ; a decomposition which 

 differed from that which takes place when the corresponding 

 compound ammonium and sulphine salts are heated. 



It was found that all phosphonium oxysalts yield as the chiet 

 product of decomposition, when subjected to the action of 

 heat, the oxide of the tertiary phosphine, and usually a ketone 

 at the same time is formed ; in the case of a monobasic acid, 



!R 



R 3 P< I = R 3 PO + R 3 CO; 



°-!COR 



or in the case of a dibasic acid, 

 >JR Ri\ 



R.,P 



3 A \ 



0- 



-CO-iO' 



;PR S = 2R 3 PO + R 9 CO. 



* Communicated by the Author. 



t Letts and Collie, Phil. Mag. Aug. 1886, p. 183. 



