In a note presented to the Industrial Society of Mulhouse, A. Pabst discusses the different stages in the formation of compound ethers, as Williamson has explained the production of ordinary ethers by the action of sulphuric acid upon alcohol. Pabst has observed that the compound ethers are formed in an analogous manner. If alcohol, sulphuric acid, and acetic acid are heated together, acetic ether, we know, is formed. Pabst has shown that it takes place in three stages. In the first stage, ethyl sulphuric acid and water are formed; in the second, acetate of ethyl with the reproduction of sulphuric acid, which again converts a fresh quantity of alcohol into ethyl sulphuric acid.
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