The constituents of the rhizome of apocynum androsæmifolium / by Charles W. Moore.

  • Moore, Charles W
Date:
[1909?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The constituents of the rhizome of apocynum androsæmifolium / by Charles W. Moore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/22 (page 738)
    united and acidified, when a quantity of solid separated. On attempting to remove this by shaking with ether, an inseparable emulsion was formed. The acid liquid was therefore heated to boiling and cooled,, after which the precipitated solid could easily be removed by filtration. The solid material so obtained was distilled under diminished pressure, when most of it passed over between 240° and 260°/25 mm. as a viscid, oily liquid which solidified on cooling. It amounted to 20 grams and consisted of a mixture of fatty acids, which were examined in connexion with a similar product obtained from the neutral portion of the petroleum extract after hydrolysis. The aqueous liquid from which the above-described fatty acids had been separated yielded, on extraction with ether, about 1 gram of acetovanillone, melting at 112—114°. Unsaponifiable Constituents of the Petroleum Extract, The ethereal liquid which had been extracted with sodium carbonate, as above described, was subsequently shaken with a solution of sodium hydroxide, which, however, removed nothing. The ether was then evaporated, when a quantity of a sticky solid was obtained. This was boiled for five hours with an alcoholic solution of potassium hydroxide, the alcohol removed, and water added, when a quantity of amorphous, grey material was precipitated. This was separated by filtration, and well washed with boiling water, after which it was treated with ether, when nearly all of it dissolved. The ethereal solution was concentrated to 1500 C.C., when, after some time, small, colourless needles separated. These, when dry, weighed 200 grams. The material contained in the mother liquor yielded, after solution in dilute alcohol, a further 35 grams of this crystalline material. The final mother liquor contained 215»gramsof uncrystallisable products, which will be referred to later. The entire amount (235 grams) of the above-mentioned crystalline product was recrystallised from dilute alcohol, when nearly 200 grams of the material was obtained in small, colourless needles melting at 153—155°. One hundred grams of this crystallised product were subjected to a prolonged process of fractional crystallisation from ethyl acetate. A large number of fractions was thus obtained, which showed indefinite melting points, ranging from 151—155° to 180—185°. The specific rotatory power of these fractions also varied; thus the fraction melting at 180—185° had [a]o + 31’6°, whilst the more soluble fraction, melting at 151—155°, had [a]o-f 54*6°. The percentage composition of the various fractions was uniform within the limits of experimental error; the mean of six analyses being C = 83*9, H = ll*7 per cent. From the results it was evident that the above-described crystalline product consisted of a mixture of substances of very similar