A NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF MUREXIDE

It is known (Davidson and Epstein, J. Org., Chem. 1936, 1, 305) that murexide undergoes decomposition in acidic solutions to furnish uramil and alloxan. No data exist in the literature on the kinetics of this reaction which appears primarily to be an acid hydrolysis. During a series of experiments undertaken in this laboratory to investigate the calcium content in sugarcane juices with the help of murexide, specially using its characteristic absorption spectra, the rate of decomposition of murexide in acid solutions was examined. The present communication reports the effect of the concentration of a strong acid like HCI on the kinetics of the above reaction.