The constituents of Solanum angustifolium : isaolation of a new gluco-alkaloid, solangustine / by Frank Tutin and Hubert William Bentley Clewer.

  • Tutin, Frank.
Date:
1914.]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The constituents of Solanum angustifolium : isaolation of a new gluco-alkaloid, solangustine / by Frank Tutin and Hubert William Bentley Clewer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    —The Constituents of Solanum Angustifolium: Isolation of a New Gluco-alkaloid, Solangustine. By Frank Tutin and Hubert William Bentley Clewer. In several countries in South America, namely, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and the southern portion of the province of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Bepublic, a solanaceous plant occurs which is known as “ Duraznillo Blanco.’’ This plant, which has been identified as Solanum angustifolium, Ruiz et Pavon, was brought to tho notice of Dr. Power by Dr. E. H. Colbeck, as being a drug worthy of chemical investigation. It is employed in South America as a febrifuge, chiefly in the treatment of enteric fever. In Peru it is also used in cases of malaria, but with caution, on account of its reputed poisonous properties. At the suggestion of Dr. Power, the present authors have there¬ fore conducted a chemical investigation of the drug in question, which has led to the isolation of a number of compounds, including a new and interesting gluco-alkaloid. Several species of the extensive genus Solanum have hitherto been reported to contain bases which, in addition to their alkaloidal nature, were also glucosides. The name solanine has in all cases been applied to such bases, but a perusal of the literature of this subject reveals a state of great confusion, and makes it appear doubtful whether any pure gluco-alkaloid has heretofore been isolated. Thus, the solanine from Solanum Dulcamara has been stated to possess the formula C42H87O15N or C52H92O18N, and to yield, on hydrolysis, the base, solanidine, C2eH4402N. Solanine from the shoots of the potato (S. tuberosum) has been stated to yield solanidine having the formula More recently, Oddo and Colombano {Gazzetta, 1905, 35, i, 27) prepared solanine from S. sodomceurn, and assigned to it the formula (C23ll3908N)2,II.20. They stated that it yielded, on hydro¬ lysis, solanidine, C^gll^gON, but the sugar that was also found was not identified. At a lat^r date, the same authors {^Atti R. Accad. Lincei, 1906, [v], 15, ii, 312) modified their formula for solanine to (C27H4709N)2,H20. Solanine from the seeds of S. tuberosum was then investigated by Colombano {ibid., 1907, [v], 16, ii, 683), who stated that it differed from the base obtained from S. sodomceurn, and had the formula C32ll5jOjjN. The most recent work on the subject is by Oddo and Cesaris {Gazzetta, 1911, 41, i, 490), who propose to designate the bases obtained from the last-mentioned two species of Solanum as solanine-^ and solanine-s respectively. The