Picric Chloride, and Alcohols. 
349 
The /5-isomer (169°) is prepared in the same way as the 
ethoxy-body, using methyl alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol. 
2*5 gm. picric chloride and ‘8 gm. NH 4 SCN were dissolved 
separately in methyl alcohol, and then mixed while hot. Separa- 
tion of an oil and a crumbling precipitate almost immediately 
took place. This was filtered and washed with water, alcohol and 
ether. The mother-liquor was found to be acid in this case also. 
The product on crystallisation from glacial acetic acid or acetic 
acid diluted with methyl alcohol, appeared as a light-yellow mass, 
m.p. 169°. It was difficultly soluble in alcohol or ether, easily 
soluble in glacial acetic acid. 
The a-isomer which was investigated first, is obtained from 
the /5-isomer. 
5 gm. of the /5-isomer (169°) were crystallised from 140 c.c. of 
ethyl alcohol and acetic acid (1 : 1), and the crystallisation care- 
fully watched. 
After six hours the product was filtered off rapidly and washed 
with alcohol and ether. The yield was 1*2 gm. of the a-isomer 
(157 — 8°). The mother-liquor deposited the /5-isomer. The 
a-isomer could not be further purified by crystallisation since it 
was partially retransformed to the /5-isomer. It could be entirely 
converted to the /5-isomer by simple crystallisation from methyl 
alcohol and glacial acetic (1 : 1). 
The ease with which these bodies can be transformed one to 
the other, suggests stereo-isomerism, and this can be easily ex- 
plained on the Hartzsch- Werner theory of the trivalent nitrogen 
atom. The forms would then correspond to the “syn” and “anti” 
configurations. 
Which structure to assign to each isomer has not yet been 
determined, and further experiments are in progress to elucidate 
these points. 
These compounds are also of interest, since they afford means 
of- obtaining well-crystallised derivatives of the alcohols, which may 
serve for their characterisation and identification. 
