MM. Vabet and Vienne, in a recent number of _Comptes Rendus_, state
that by passing a current of acetylene through 200 grammes of benzene
containing 50 grammes of aluminum chloride for 30 hours the oily
liquid remaining after removal of the unaltered aluminum chloride by
washing was found to yield, on fractional distillation, three distinct
products. The first, which came over between 143° and 145°, and which
amounted to 80 per cent. of the whole, consisted of pure cinnamene or
styrolene (C_{6}H_{5}.CH.CH_{2}), which is one of the principal
constituents of liquid storax, and was synthetized by M. Berthelot by
passing acetylene and benzene vapor through a tube heated to redness.
The second fraction, coming over at 265°-270°, consisted of diphenyl
ethane ((C_{6}H_{5})_{2} CH.CH_{3}); and the third fraction, boiling
at 280°-286°, was found to consist entirely of dibenzyl
(C_{6}H_{5}.CH_{2}.CH_{2}.C_{6}H_{5}), a solid substance isomeric with
diphenyl ethane. These syntheses afford another instance of the
singular action of aluminum chloride in attacking the benzene nucleus.
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