Abstract
THE direct combination of carbon and hydrogen in the electric arc is a true case of synthesis, and if we could form acetylene in this way in sufficiently large quantities, it would be perfectly easy to build up from the acetylene thcetylene be passed through a tube heated to just visible redness, it is rapidly and readily converted into benzol; at a higher temperature naphthalene is produced, whilst by the action of nascent hydrogen on acetylene, ethylene and ethane can be built up. From the benzol we readily derive aniline, and the whole of that magnificent series of colouring matters which have gladdened the heart of the fair portion of the community during the past five-and-twenty years, whilst the ethylene produced from acetylene can be readily converted into ethyl alcohol, by consecutively treating it with sulphuric acid and water, and from the alcohol, again, an enormous number of other organic substances can be produced, so that acetylene can, without exaggeration, be looked upon as one of the great keystones of the organic edifice, and, given a cheap and easy method of preparing it, it is hardly possible to foresee the results which will be ultimately produced.
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The Commerciae whole of the other hydrocarbons which can be used for illuminating purposes. For instance, if al Synthesis of Illuminating Hydrocarbons. Nature 51, 303–304 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/051303a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/051303a0