The photochemical formation of formaldehyde in green plants

Abstract

Since von Baeyer propounded his theory of the formation of formic aldehyde as an intermediate product in the synthesis of sugars from carbon dioxide and water by green plants, many attempts have been made to discover this substance, and to substantiate Baeyer’s theory. The most successful of these are due to Polacci, and to Usher and Priestley. More recently R. J. Harvey Gibson, in conjuction with A. W. Titherley, has adduced further evidence tending to show that formaldehyde is actually formed in green plants, and the former has propounded a photo-electric theory to account for the photochemical action. Nevertheless, the evidence hitherto brought forward has been genearlly considered, from an experimental point of view, somewhat inconclusive, and most of the above-quoted investigations have been subjected to numerous criticisms.