The earliest writers, such as
E. Davy, Woehler, and Berthelot, stated that an addition of chlorine to
acetylene was invariably followed by an explosion, unless the mixture was
protected from light; whilst later investigators thought the two gases
could be safely mixed if they were both pure, or if air was absent. Owing
to the conflicting nature of the statements made, Nieuwland determined in
1905 to study the problem afresh; and the annexed account is chiefly
based on his experiments, which, however, still fail satisfactorily to
elucidate all the phenomena observed. According to Nieuwland's results,
the behaviour of mixtures of acetylene and chlorine appears capricious,
for sometimes the gases unite quietly, although sometimes they explode.
Acetylene and chlorine react quite quietly in the dark and at low
temperatures; and neither a moderate increase in temperature, nor the
admission of diffused daylight, nor the introduction of small volumes of
air, is necessarily followed by an explosion. Doubtless the presence of
either light, air, or warmth increases the probability of an explosive
reaction, while it becomes more probable still in their joint presence;
but in given conditions the reaction may suddenly change from a gentle
formation of addition products to a violent formation of substitution
products without any warning or manifest cause.
Pages:
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430