On a Compound of Albumin 
with Phenol. 
BY 
M. Shimada, Ndgakushi. 
Finely powdered dry egg-albumin dissolves gradually when 
heated with io times of its weight of phenol for several hours on 
the water bath. From this solution alcohol precipitates a floccu- 
lent mass, which, after washing with alcohol and water, repre¬ 
sents a compound of albumin and phenol. (1) 2 
This compound is without taste or smell, insoluble in boiling 
alcohol and water, and in solution of potassium carbonate, easily 
soluble in hot phenol. In concentrated acetic acid it swells up 
gradually, while potassium hydroxide, even in dilution of 0.5 per 
cent, dissolves it ; from this solution acetic acid precipitates it 
again. 
It is not attacked in the cold by hydrochloric acid of 10 per¬ 
cent, but gradually dissolved by one of 35 per cent. Nitric acid 
of 5 per cent has no effect on it at the ordinary temperature, but 
on boiling with concentrated nitric acid, a yellow colouration is 
obtained. It gives the biuret and Millon s reaction like common 
albumin. 
i grm. of this product was digested with 20 cc. of concentrated 
hydrochloric acid at ioo° C. for several hours, and then the liquid 
was subjected to distillation in order to see, whether phenol was 
hereby liberated, but the distillate obtained did not give a trace of 
turbidity with bromine water. The same negative result in regard 
phenol was observed in the following experiment, which was made 
to see whether that new compound would also yield leucine and 
tyrosine, like the common albumin. 
I heated 3 grm. with 15 cc. of sulphuric acid of 30 per cent 
for seven hours on the water bath and then for a short time on the 
sand bath. 
(1) If the amount of alcohol is too small, then instead of a flocculent mass, a tenace- 
ous mass is separated, from which the adhering phenol can be removed only by prolong¬ 
ed washing. (2) Peptone behaves similarly to albumin. O. L. 
(2) This did not show the biuret reaction but yielded a very copious precipitate 
with phospho-tungstic acid, pointing to a considerable amount of basic compounds. 
