— i5i — 



known is not correct, for Thorns 1 ) has already examined the pro- 

 ducts of the action of nitric acid on dihydroasarone, and Ciamician 

 and Silber 2 ) have also 16 years ago worked on dihydroasarone. — 

 Sz eki also produced asarone dibromide, (C H 3 0) 3 C 6 H 2 • C H Br • C H Br 

 • CH 3 , m. p. 8 3 , which had already been obtained by B. Rizza and 

 A. Butlerow 3 ), but had not yet been examined further, and he 

 observed that asarone is readily oxidised by iodine and mercuric 

 oxide to a -2, 4, 5 - trimethoxyphenylpropionic aldehyde, which at 

 normal pressure boils at 275 without decomposition. The fact that 

 isoeugenol and isosafrol can be polymerised by treatment with acetyl 

 chloride or mineral acids, induced Szeki 4 ) to extend this reaction 

 also to isoapiol, isoeugenol methyl ether, and asarone. The bodies 

 obtained, diisoapiol, diisoeugenol methyl ether, and diisoasarone, melt 

 at 97 , 106 and ioo° respectively. 



*) Ibidem 36 (1903), 854. 



2 ) Ibidem 23 (1890), 2283. 



3 ) Ibidem 17 (1884), 1159. 



4 ) Ibidem 39 (1906), 2422. 



