C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



143 



2^:\E» vJSITRy^Crr 



Conducted by Prof. Georg:e C. Diekman. 



Theacylon. 



Theacylon is a copyrighted name given 

 to a new theobromin preparation, mar- 

 keted by the firm of E. Merck. Darm- 

 stadt. Chemically it is acetyl-salicylo- 

 theobromin. The compound is claimed to 

 be a definite chemical combination, and 

 not merely a mechanical mixture, as are 

 most of the other theobromin prepara- 

 tions. It is prepared in accordance with 

 a patented process and possesses the fol- 

 lowing formula: CjqHj^OjN^. Theacy- 

 lon is a white, crystalline, odorless pow- 

 der, sparingly soluble in water, alcohol, 

 'ether and diluted acids. Chloroform 

 dissolves it readily. 



Heating i gramme of theacylon with 

 5 mils of water and i mil of sodium hy- 

 droxide solution, for a prolonged period, 

 causes the liquor to become yellow, with 

 the formation of a white precipitate. A 

 portion of this solution, after neutralizing 

 with diluted sulphuric acid, and adding 

 solution of ferric chloride, will assume 

 a violet color (salicylic acid). If to an- 

 other portion of the solution, diluted sul- 

 phuric acid is added until the liquid re- 

 acts acid, further precipitation will be 

 noted, the precipitate appearmg white. 

 After filtering, and adding a few drops 

 of sulphuric acid to the filtrate, to make 

 sure that precipitation is complete, the 

 liquid is shaken out with several portion 

 of ether. After the liquids have separ- 

 ated, the aqueous liquid is exactly neu- 

 tralized with normal potassium hydrox- 

 ide, V. s. (litmus paper). Diluted solu- 



tion of ferric chloride is then added, and 

 after warming, a red-brown coloration is 

 noted, and uix)n further heating (boil- 

 ing), a red-brown precipitate is formed, 

 (basic ferric acetate). The white pre- 

 cipitate resulting from boiling theacylon 

 with sodium hydroxide solution, and sub- 

 sequently neutralization with diluted sul- 

 phuric acid, is freed from admixed sali- 

 cylic acid, by shaking out with ether. 

 The ether insoluble matter, treated with 

 chlorine water, and heated to dryness, 

 upon addition of ammonia, produces a 

 violet coloration (murexid reaction). 



Theacylon melts at 195° C, after pre- 

 liminary softening. No weighable resi- 

 due should be found after ignition, 0,1 

 gramme dissolved in 1 mil of concentrated 

 sulphuric acid, should yield a clear and 

 colorless solution (absence of readilv 

 carbonizable substances). If i gramme 

 of theacylon is dissolved in 10 mils of 

 water, with aid of i mil of potassium 

 hydroxide solution, and the solution 

 shaken out with 10 mils of chloroform, 

 the residue obtained after vaporization 

 of the chloroform by means of a water- 

 bath, should not weigh more than 0,022 

 gramme and should be odorless (absence 

 of caffeine and phenol). If 2 grammes 

 of theacylon be shaken wrth 20 mils of 

 water, and the mixture filtered, the fil- 

 trate must possess a neutral reaction, and 

 must not be colored violet upon addition 

 of ferric chloride (absence of free 

 acids). The addition of hydrochloric 

 acid, of silver nitrate, of barium nitrate. 



