The alkaline condensation of acetone

The condensation of acetone at room temperature leads chiefly to the formation of diacetone alcohol, a small proportion of symmetrical triacetone dialcohol also being formed. Indications have now been found of the presence of a further compound in the condensation product. It is almost certainly unsymmetrical triacetone dialcohol, an unstable substance previously reported solely by Bayer & Co. in 1914. This second trimer has not been isolated and direct evidence of its existence by the infra‐red examination of distillation residue fractions has not so far been obtained. The trimer, however, dehydrates readily to a mixture of two ‘unsymmetrical phorones’. This dehydration product has been isolated in quantity from large‐scale fractions and has been examined.