I. On the normal paraffins

In the first paper of this subject it was shown that by the action of chlorine on a normal paraffin a primary chloride and a secondary one of the general formula C n H 2n+1 CH 3 } CHCL are formed simultaneously. It appeared of interest also to examine the action of bromine on the paraffins. The present paper contains the first results of this research. I. Normal Hexane.—When bromine vapour is passed into the vapour of the boiling hydrocarbon, in the daylight, its colour disappears quickly and substitution products are formed which are partly decomposed by distillation. The portion distilling without decomposition consists of a hexyl bromide, which was converted into the acetate and the alcohol. The latter yielded on oxidation acetic acid and normal butyric acid , showing that it is methylbutyl carbinol . The boiling-points of the different compounds are as follows:— The heptyl alcohol is methylpentyl carbinol , because on oxidation it was resolved into acetic acid and normal pentylic acid .