A treatise on chemistry. Vol. III, The chemistry of the hydrocarbons and their derivatives, or, Organic chemistry. Part I / by H.E. Roscoe & C. Schorlemmer.

  • Henry Enfield Roscoe
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on chemistry. Vol. III, The chemistry of the hydrocarbons and their derivatives, or, Organic chemistry. Part I / by H.E. Roscoe & C. Schorlemmer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

    227/744 (page 209)
    heating wood-spirit and nitric acid together with copper or arsenic trioxide. The nitrogen trioxide which is formed acts upon the alcohol as follows : 2 CH3.OH + N2O3 = 2 CH3.NO2 + H2O. It is also produced when nitric acid acts upon brucine. It is an ethereal-smelling gas, which condenses at a low temperature to a colourless liquid boiling at — 12°. 136 Methyl Nitrate, CH3.NO3. According to Dumas and Peligot' this ether is formed in small quantity by heating nitric acid and methyl alcohol. A larger yield was obtained by adding a freshly-prepared mixture of sulphuric acid and wood-spirit to saltpetre, the heat evolved in the reaction being sufficient to vaporize the compound. The product obtained was, however, not pure. It began to boil at 60°, whilst the portion coming over at 6G° possessed approximately the composition of the nitrate. That it chiefly consisted of this substance is seen by the fact that on the addition of alcoholic potash, crystals of nitre were rapidly formed. Carey Lea,^ however, could not obtain methyl nitrate in this way. He succeeded in preparing it by employing the method suggested by Millon for the preparation of ethyl nitrate. Nitric acid alone acts chiefly as an oxidizing agent with formation of nitrous fumes, and converts the alcohol into nitrite. This action is, however, avoided by the addition of urea, which at once destroys the nitrous acid formed. In order to prepare methyl nitrate, 150 cc. of pure nitric acid, having a specific gravity of 1-31, are brought into a retort together with 40 grams of nitrate of urea, and to this 200 cc. of methyl alcohol are added and the mixture carefully distilled to one-third, 130 cc. of nitric acid and 170 cc. of wood-spirit are then added, and the mixture again distilled to one-third, and at last 10 grams of nitrate of urea, 110 cc. of nitric acid, and 150 cc. of methyl alcohol, and this is again distilled to one-third. The distillates are then mixed and shaken up with a solution of common salt, the ether which separates out being washed with a dilute solution of potassium carbonate. Methyl nitrate is also easily obtained by adding 2 parts of a cold solution of methyl alcohol and sulphuric acid to a cold mixture of 1 part of nitric acid and 2 parts of sulphuric acid. ' Ann. Chim. Phy.i. Iviii. 37. Silliman's Am. Journ. [2], xxxiii, 227. VOL nr. p