During a study of the chromic acid oxidation of codeine chromate,'which gives codeinone (11), it was observed that the product was contaminated by considerable quantities of phenolic impurities, but attempts to characterize them failed. Because of the disposition of codeinone to rearrange in hot dilute2 and hot concentrated2 hydrochloric acid it was thought that these impurities arose from the action of the acidic reaction medium and that one ...
