November 8, I939

Dear -of esmr ilurd :

  T hare just read yo-xr very interesting paper in the
August Jr Rrr, Chsm, &c. on =yclooctatetrene, and Snapired by
it anti other rezent1.y- expressed doubts f have taken out, my
old roprlnt and tried to think back to Yna orligfnal work.

f think, therefore, t!:rat it is hardly fair to ccqxre this

proccdum wit? the outcm of *Fyrolyses@ at over 200°, wkem
rearrangements Btght easily occur,

Also, f do not 9883 how you can

that *the fact tht none

of the conjugated hydrocarbon came fro@ XXr.rw casts doubt OB
the structure of cyc~ooctatetreaat.  f s!wdd oonsider it, &ood
negattvs ev5dsnce in favor of W¶Jlstatter's fomlatbon if even
dPaat?o p~rrolysils fafled to produaca er conlugated agartea nh3.ah
would not be expected to form dfreetb on struotural ,po~.inds..
As for the reault with X, the diyrastterarary coSpound latrrdtng Lo

-2-

the tetrasene was rmt B 152 isomer, md thts dght easily in-
fluence, the result,
isocclcsrt hd mQht not, th9 gercentage :)f butadiene even from
X have been mwh farger if t5e decoapasition had been run sore
cMnparably accontiny: to mr directions for the cycloocta-coac
pnaad *

Could it not be repeated wttk the P,4

Shoerely,