RECENT WORK ON THE MORPHINE GROUP 305 



product of the interaction of phosphorus pentachloride and 

 codeine is obtained, and that when bromomorphide is methylated 

 bromocodeide is produced ; thus chlorocodeide and bromo- 

 codeide are simply the methyl ethers of the corresponding 

 morphides. On hydrolysis (loc. cit.), chloromorphide yields 

 /S-j'somorphine and a second isomeride of morphine which, 

 when methylated, is converted into the above-mentioned 

 " pseudocodeine." As pointed out by Knorr and Horlein 

 {loc. cit), the latter name was not happily chosen by Merck, 

 since it is not the methyl ether of the base known as psendo- 

 morphine, which is an oxidation product of morphine (see p. 

 280). The position becomes still more unfortunate now that 

 the morphine analogue of u pseudocode'me" has been isolated, 

 inasmuch as the new base cannot, of course, be termed 

 "/wwafomorphine." Lees has therefore proposed for it the 

 name j^o/somorphine, and similarly suggests the name neoiso- 

 codeine for the corresponding methyl ether. 



When bromomorphide is hydrolysed, /3-zsomorphine and 

 /scmorphine are produced, and the corresponding methyl ethers 

 are obtained by the hydrolysis of bromocodeide. Thus the 

 genetic relationship between the halogen derivatives of mor- 

 phine and codeine and the bases produced therefrom by 

 hydrolysis, may be represented as follows : 



0-z'.5'<?morphine 



0-z.rocodeine 

 /3-/^morphine 



(3-/j-fcodeine 



Chloromorphide 



* . 



Chlorocodeide 

 Bromomorphide 



* . 



Bromocodeide 



Neow<?morphine 



Neozwcodeine 

 z^morphine 



z'-rccodeine 



20 



