French Chemical Literature

Instead, Kirwan proceeded in a different direction, measuring the capacities or respective quantities of acids and alkalis required in making neutral salts, or the point of saturation. In doing so, he followed closely Homberg s precedent, which reveals his intimate knowledge of French chemical literature. Fluent in French, he had a complete set of the academy s memoirs in his library. In order to circumvent the necessary imprecision in such measurements deriving from the variety of acids and alkalis used by chemists, he invented a standard—spirit of salt or marine acid produced by saturating distilled water with marine acid air ... 

The major sources of French chemical literature are discussed. Some French-English dictionaries are listed compendia and reference works are discussed. An industrial directory and publications listing dissertations and theses and recent books are available. Sources of abstracts are three journals these and other French chemical journals are evaluated. 

Amphetamine (1) is a very simple phenethylamine, described in the chemical literature as early as 1887 (Edeleano, 1887). Smith, Kline and French (now GSK) filed a patent on the synthesis and use of amphetamine in 1930 (Nabenhauer, 1930), and the enantiomers were assigned in 1932 (Leithe, 1932 V-Braun and Friehmelt, 1933). Not surprisingly, early access to chiral material relied on classical crystallization-based resolutions (Gillingham, 1962 Nabenhaur, 1942). The early, racemic syntheses of amphetamine fall into four major classifications according to the method used to make the C-N bond ... 

Experience showed, however, that it was very difficult to invent new terms that would be universally accepted. The term glucide has been regularly used in all French-speaking countries, but it is rarely used in chemical literature in the Anglo-Saxon and German languages. But, subsequent to the indirect influence of the commission s decisions, the term carbohydrates has in practice become synonymous with glucides from the point of view of definition. 

For historical searches in the French chemical journal literature, reference should be made to Dyson s list of obsolete journals (26), This list covers obscure titles and short runs published during the nineteenth century, with special attention to the problem of multiple publication, anonymity, briefness of publication period, and changes of title. 

Annales de chimie. The years of inception and earliest growth of the French chemical journal literature and the present period are linked by Annales de Chimie (1) which is the oldest chemical journal still being published. Established in 1789 by Lavoisier, Berthollet, and several others, it appeared under the title of Annales de chimie et de physique until 1914 when it was divided into separate journals, the Annales de chimie... 

The five aforementioned journals will, in all likelihood, be the ones most frequently consulted by the literature chemist. Some of the many other more specialized French chemical periodicals have been listed in the bibliography. 

French patents as a source of information for chemical literature research have undoubtedly been the source of many a headache, if one can judge from the exasperated comments of Worischek 57) and Fleischer 27) nor can any encouragement be offered at this time. French patents list no claims, but provide resumes which summarize their contents. Their only function is to establish a priority date for use in French courts in case of litigation. There is no formal examining procedure, and duplication of patents is not uncommon. Pharmaceutical compositions or medicines cannot be patented under French law, but the processes for manufacturing them are patentable. French patents do not extend to French Morocco, Tunis, Syria, or Lebanon which have separate patent systems. They do, however, extend to the other French colonies. 

Many foreign abbreviations are really a form of shorthand which frequently only the author can decipher. They are not necessarily coined on the basis of any uniform system, and that is where the main difficulty lies. This paper does not solve the difficulties encountered in connection with abbreviations used in the German, French, and Italian chemical literature, nor does it cover foreign abbreviations of journal citations or symbols. It is intended solely to afford an insight into whatever method there is in the madness, and to draw attention to some of the features to watch for as possible clues. Tables I and II list many of these abbreviations. 

FISCHBACH—TRANSLATING GERMAN, FRENCH, AND ITALIAN CHEMICAL LITERATURE... 

Fischbach, H., Translating German, French, and Italian Chemical Literature, Advances... 

The chemically catalyzed oxidation of carotenoids by metalloporphyrins has also been described in the literature. In 2000, French et al. described a central cleavage mimic system (ruthenium porphyrin linked to cyclodextrins) that exhibited a 15,1 S -regiosclectivity of about 40% in the oxidative cleavage of [3-carotene by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in a biphasic system (French et al. 2000). 

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