526,289. Gold keratinates. WULFING, R. VON, ROSSKOTHEN, E., [trading as WULFING, J. A.], STURM, E., and FLEISCHAIANN, R. March 11, 1939, No. 7966. [Class 2 (iii)] Gold keratinates containing calcium or strontium are obtained from keratin by mild degradation with hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, with or without reduction, purifying the degradation products, e.g. by dialysis, treatment with animal charcoal, or by precipitation of the neutralized hydrolysis mixture with alcohol, treating the purified products with gold compounds, making the reaction mixture neutral or weakly alkaline with oxides, hydroxides or carbonates of calcium or strontium, and precipitating the products by organic solvents miscible with water, particularly ethyl alcohol. If sulphuric acid is used for the hydrolysis, the mixture is neutralized with calcium carbonate or hydroxide, when the precipitated sulphate carries down with it the impurities. If the hydrolysis product is reduced with zinc, the solution may be neutralized with soda lye precipitate zinc keratinate, which is filtered, decomposed with sulphuretted hydrogen, again filtered, and the filtrate evaporated down and treated with gold compounds and hydroxides &c. of calcium or strontium as above. In another modification of the process, the alkaline earth compound may first be prepared from the purified keratin hydrolysate by making the latter weakly alkaline with calcium or strontium hydroxide, then adding the gold compound, neutralizing with soda lye and precipitating with alcohol a compound which contains sodium in addition to gold and calcium or strontium. In examples (1) keratin hydrolysate obtained by treating hair with dilute hydrochloric acid, followed by dialysis and evaporation to dryness, is dissolved in water, treated with amic chloride and calcium or strontium hydroxide, filtered and stirred into alcohol ; (2) hair or wool is hydrolysed with sulphuric acid, and the solution is neutralized with calcium carbonate or hydroxide the precipitated calcium sulphate carries down with it the impurities, and the filtrate after evaporation to dryness and solution in water is treated with gold chloride and calcium or strontium oxide and stirred into alcohol; (3) hair or wool is hydrolysed with hydrochloric acid, decolorized with animal charcoal, and the excess acid is removed by evaporation in a vacuum, the purified hydrolysate is then treated with gold chloride and calcium or strontium carbonate as before ; (4) sulphydryl keratinic acid, obtained by hydrolysis of hair with hydrochloric acid, reduction with zinc, neutralization with soda lye, filtering and decomposing the zinc keratinate with hydrogen sulphide, is treated with gold chloride and calcium hydroxide; (5) a keratin hydrolysate obtained by hydrolysis of hair with hydrochloric acid followed by dialysis is treated with calcium carbonate or hydroxide till weakly alkaline, then with sodium formaldehyde sulphoxylate, followed by treatment with a gold chloride solution which has been neutralized with soda lye, the solution obtained after filtering is stirred into alcohol to precipate a calcium sodium gold keratinate ; (6) a calcium keratin compound, obtained by hydrolysis of hair with hydrochloric acid, neutralization with calcium carbonate or hydroxide and precipitation with alcohol, is dissolved in water, treated with gold chloride solution, and rendered weakly alkaline with soda lye ; on pouring into water a sodium calcium gold keratin compound is obtained, and (7) a purified keratin hydrolysate, obtained by hydrolyzing hair with hydrochloric acid, neutralization with ammonia and precipitation with alcohol, is dissolved in water, made weakly alkaline with calcium hydroxide, reduced with sodium hydrosulphite, and then treated with a solution of sodium aurichloride as in example (6). Specification 481,164 is referred to.