I. Recorded methods for preparing chromium hexacarbonyl are reviewed and critically compared. Previous theories on the mechanism of formation from carbon monoxide, chromic chloride, and a Grignard reagent are not wholly satisfactory, and an alternative mechanism is proposed, entailing the formation of an intermediate organo‐chromium‐III dibaiide.
II. Hydrocarbon solutions of chromium hexacarbonyl are decomposed on exposure, in the presence of oxygen, to radiation in the near ultra‐violet, forming an insoluble gelatinous precipitate. In the presence of a molar equivalent of a long‐chain fatty acid, such as stearic acid, precipitation is inhibited, though the carbonyl still decomposes to hydrocarbon‐soluble products. The mechanism of decomposition and inhibition is still obscure.