It gives rise to various decomposition products such as pyridine, picoline, &c., when its vapour is passed through a red-hot tube.
By passing the vapour of this compound through a red-hot tube, it yields the isomeric a0- pyridylpyrrol, the potassium salt of which with methyl iodide gives a substance methylated both in the pyridine and pyrrol nuclei.
By distillation over lime, the methyl group is removed from the pyridine ring, and the resulting a- pyridyl-Nmethylpyrrol gives i-nicotine on reduction.
Rhombic sulphur may be obtained artificially by slowly crystallizing a solution of sulphur in carbon bisulphide, or, better, by exposing pyridine saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen to atmospheric oxidation (Ahrens, Ber., 1890, 23, p. 2708).
Thus benzene, (CH) gives thiophene, (CH) S, from which it is difficultly distinguished; pyridine, (CH) N, gives thiazole, (CH) N S, which is a very similar substance; naphthalene gives thionaphthen, C 11 S, with which it shows great analogies, especially in the derivatives.
