Am.  Jour.  Pharrn. 
June,  1887. 
Amyl  Acetate. 
275 
AMYL  ACETATE. 
By  Henry  Trimble. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  May  17th. 
This  compound  ether  has  recently  come  into  use  for  manufacturing 
purposes  without  attracting  any  scientific  attention.  Its  value  depends 
on  the  excellent  solvent  power  for  pyroxylin  which  it  possesses. 
Good  soluble  gun  cotton  will  dissolve  in  it  until  a  jelly  is  formed  and 
the  vessel  may  be  inverted.  On  this  account  it  has  become  valuable 
to  the  manufacturer  of  celluloid,  and  to  the  manufacturer  of  certain 
kinds  of  lacquer  for  coating  brass  and  copper.  These  two  industries 
are  consuming  enormous  quantities  of  this  solvent,  and  the  probabilities 
are  that  the  use  of  it  has  not  fairly  commenced. 
The  employment  of  acetate  of  amyl  or  pear  oil  in  the  manufacture 
of  artificial  fruit  essences  has  long  been  known,  and  for  this  purpose  it 
has  commanded  a  high  price,  so  high  indeed  as  to  exclude  the  possi- 
bility of  its  general  use  as  a  solvent ;  but  for  the  above  mentioned  in- 
dustries it  can  be  made  commercially  pure  to  answer  the  purpose  as 
well  as  the  highly  purified  and  more  agreeably  smelling  compound. 
Two  patents  have  been  taken  out  in  England  during  the  past  three 
years  bearing  on  this  subject.  One  on  account  of  its  property  of  dis- 
solving gun  cotton,  the  other  on  a  method  of  manufacture.  In  the 
former  the  inventors  claimed  the  solution  to  be  valuable  for  the  making 
of  varnishes,  and  that  "  when  200  parts  nitro-cellulose  are  mixed  with 
600  parts  acetate  of  amyl  a  mass  of  doughy  consistency  is  obtained, 
which  can  be  used  for  any  purpose  for  which  celluloid  is  used.  With 
the  addition  of  castor  oil,  china  clay,  and  a  small  proportion  of  certain 
essential  oils,  a  compound  suitable  for  the  production  of  artificial 
leather  may  be  produced." 
Several  methods  of  manufacture  have  been  prepared,  but  the  one 
most  common  in  this  country  consists  in  heating  in  a  lead  or  glass  re- 
tort a  mixture  of  acetate  of  sodium  or  calcium,  suphuric  acid  and  fusel 
oil. 
The  ether  distils  at  137°  C,  has  a  specific  gravity  at  15°  of  '876 
and  is  almost  absolutely  insoluble  in  water.  Its  solvent  action  is 
not  confined  to  gun  cotton  for  it  readily  dissolves  tannin,  fixed 
and  volatile  oils,  resins  and  camphors,  and  may  become  a  valuable 
solvent  in  pharmacy  in  addition  to  the  several  uses  it  already 
possesses. 
