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BUTYRIC ACID, C4H802

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 892 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUTYRIC See also:

ACID, C4H802 . Two acids are known corresponding to this See also:formula, normal butyric acid, See also:CH3.CH2•CH2•COOH, and isobutyric acid, (CH3)2.CH•COOH. Normal butyric acid or See also:fermentation butyric acid is found in See also:butter, as an hexyl ester in the oil of Heracleum giganteum and as an octyl ester in See also:parsnip (Pastinaca saliva); it has also been noticed in the fluids of the flesh and in See also:perspiration. It may be prepared by the See also:hydrolysis of See also:ethyl acetoacetate, or by passing See also:carbon monoxide over a mixture of See also:sodium acetate and sodium ethylate at 2o5° C. (A. Geuther, See also:Ann., 188o, 2oz,p.306), C2H5ONa+CH3000Na+CO = H•CO2Na+CH3•CH2.CH2•COONa. It is ordinarily prepared by the fermentation of See also:sugar or See also:starch, brought about by the addition of putrefying See also:cheese, See also:calcium carbonate being added to neutralize the acids formed in the See also:process. A. Fitz (Ber., 1878, r1, p. 52) found that the butyric fermentation of starch is aided by the See also:direct addition of Bacillus subtilis. The acid is an oily liquid of unpleasant See also:smell, and solidifies at -19° C.; it boils at 162.3° C., and has a specific gravity of 0.9746 (0° C.). It is easily soluble in See also:water and See also:alcohol, and is thrown out of its aqueous See also:solution by the addition of calcium chloride.

See also:

Potassium bichromate and sulphuric acid oxidize it to carbon dioxide and acetic acid, while alkaline potassium permanganate oxidizes it to carbon dioxide. The calcium See also:salt, Ca(CQH702),.See also:H2O, is less soluble in hot water than in See also:cold. Isobutyric acid is found in the See also:free See also:state in carobs (Ceratonia siliqua) and in the See also:root of See also:Arnica dulcis, and as an ethyl ester in croton oil. It may be artificially prepared by the hydrolysis of isopropylcyanide with alkalies, by the oxidation of isopropyl alcohol with potassium bichromate and sulphuric acid (I. See also:Pierre and E. Puchot, Ann. de chim. et de plays., 1873, [4] 28, p. 366), or by the See also:action of sodium See also:amalgam on methacrylic acid, See also:CH2: C(CH3)•000H. It is a liquid of somewhat unpleasant smell, boiling at 155'5° C. Its specific gravity is 0.9697 (0°°). Heated with chromic acid solution to 140° C., it gives carbon dioxide and See also:acetone. Alkaline potassium permanganate oxidizes it to a-oxyisobutyric acid, (CH3)2•C(OH).COOH, whilst concentrated nitric acid converts it into dinitroisopropane. Its salts are more soluble in water than those of the normal acid.

End of Article: BUTYRIC ACID, C4H802

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