2164
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
7. 8. 9. 10.
SEPTEMBER, 1930
Chemistry of the endocrines. Energy metabolism (normal and pathologic). Gastric analysis. Disturbances of acid-base equilibrium.
New Refrigerator Gas Is Fireproof, Non-Poisonous. A new gas for the coils of electric refriaerators was demonstrated a t the Atlanta Meeting of the A. C. S. It is non-poisonous and non-inflammable, and it very closely approaches the refrigerating engineer's notion of an ideal substance for the purpose. The new gas is a compound of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, and is a chemical cousin to carbon tetrachloride, widely sold under a variety of trade names and used for such diverse purposes as grease-spot remover, fire extinguisher, and insect exterminator. Carbon tetrachloride is one of the two ingredients that are used in making it, the other being antimony fluoride. The new refrigerant is the invention of Thomas Midgley, Jr., developer of ethyl gasoline, and a Belgian chemist, Dr. A. L. Henne. The work was done in the laboratory of one of the large electric refrigerator companies a t Dayton. Ohio. The new gas is as completely non-toxic as carhon dioxide, which we have in our lungs all the time as the result of our breathing and which we swallow whenever we drink any kind of carbonated beverage. Animals kept in an atmosphere containing a considerable percentage of the new refrigerant showed no signs of distress or illness. I t is also completely non-inflammable; even with the addition of 30 per cent of butane, explosive nas, the mixture refused to ignite. These two qualities will an exceedinnlv .~ recommend it to the average householder, who has been alarmed-more than necessarily. perhaps-by reports of refrigerant leakages causing poisoning. The refrigerating engineer finds comfort in the boiling point of the compound, which turns from liquid to gas a t 28 degrees centigrade below the freezing point of water. This is about as low as he wants it, yet not too low. Another technical advantage is the relative chemical inertness of the gas. It causes slight corrosion of duralumin and hronze, hut does not attack steel, iron, brass, copper, aluminum, or glass. Like its parent substance, carbon tetrachloride, the new gas consists of one atom of carhon linked to four other atoms. In carhon tetrachloride the other four are all chlorine atoms; in the new gas two of them are chlorine and two are fluorine, a closely related element. The compound might therefore be called carbon-dichlor-difluoride. I t has not received a name as yet, and for trade purposes will probably be given a less cumbersome title. It is chemically possible to produce other compounds with either one or three fluorine atoms replacing the chlorine, or even a complete carhon tetrafluoride; hut for practical refrigerating purposes the two-chlorine, two-fluorine compound seems to he best. I n presenting his results. Mr. Midgley paid tribute to the work of a Belgian worker in theoretical chemistry, Prof. F. Swarts, who pioneered in the field of fluorine compounds. "It is doubtful if it had not been for the work of Dr. Swarts whether the present work would have hecn a t all possible," he said. "It is certain that it would have been delayed for an indefinite period. This constitutes another example of the already numerous cases where industrial development has been reared upon the foundation of pure science research." The commercial production of the new refrigerant will probably develop rapidly enough to bring it into the field after about two years, i t is estimated. It is expected that this new compound will have an important part to play in the schemes which are now being developed to make houses more habitable in the tropics and in the intemperate summers of the temperate zones.-Science Semke ~
