CARNITINE. CARNINE. 577 



tungstic acid, by mercuric nitrate and by silver nitrate with an excess of 

 barium hydrate. Carnosine-silver is soluble with difficulty in cold water 

 but readily soluble in hot water. Carnosine nitrate melts at 211-212 C. 

 Carnosine also gives a crystalline copper salt. 



The principle in preparing this base consists in precipitating with 

 phosphotungstic acid, separating the free base with barium hydrate, 

 conversion into the nitrate, precipitating with silver nitrate and barium 

 hydrate, decomposing the salt with H^S and conversion into nitrate. 

 From the latter, which is readily obtained as crystals, the base is precip- 

 itated by phosphotungstic acid and then set free by barium hydrate. 



Carnitine, C 7 Hi 6 N03 (or C 7 Hi 6 N0 3 ), another base isolated by GULEWITSCH 

 and KRIMBERG from meat extracts, has a strong alkaline reaction, is very 

 readily soluble in water, and was also found by KRIMBERG in fresh meat. SKWORZOW 

 found 0.19 p. m. carnitine in calf's muscles. Carnitine according to KRIMBERG 

 is probably 7-trimethyl-j3-oxybutyrobetaine with the formula 



,0 CO 



(CH 3 ) 3 N< | . According to ENGELAND it is on the contrary 



\CH 2 CH-(OH) CH 2 



a T-trimethyl-a-oxybutyrobetaine (CH 3 ) 3 -Nr~~ I j, . 



CH 2 CH 2 . CH (OH) CO 



according to KRIMBERG and .ENGELAND 1 identical with novaine prepared by KOSSEL 

 from meat extracts. It gives crystalline double compounds with platinum, gold 

 and mercuric chlorides, among which the following, C7Hi 5 N0 3 2HgCl 2 , with a 

 melting-point of 196-197 C., is especially used in the isolation of the base. 

 The hydrochloride and the nitrate are readily soluble and the solution of the first 

 is laBvo-rotatory, about () D =21. 



The inosinic acid has been discussed in Chapter II. In close relation to this 

 stands probably the carnine. 



Carnine, CyHsN^+ILO, is one of the substances found by WEIDEL in American 

 meat extract. It has also been found by KRUKENBERG and WAGNER in frog 

 muscles and in the flesh of fishes, and by POUCHET in the urine. Carnine is, accord- 

 ing to HAISER and WENZEL, 2 probably only an equimolecular mixture of hypo- 

 xanthine and the crystalline pentoside (hypoxanthin-riboside) inosine, which is 

 readily split by acid into hypoxanthine and pentose. 



Carnine has been obtained as a white crystalline mass. It dissolves with 

 difficulty in cold water, but more readily in warm. It is insoluble in alcohol 

 and ether. It dissolves in warm hydrochloric acid and yields a salt crystallizing 

 in shining needles, which gives a double compound with platinum chloride. Its 

 watery solution is precipitated by silver nitrate, but this precipitate is dissolved 

 neither by ammonia nor by warm nitric acid. Its watery solution is precipitated 

 by basic lead acetate ; but the lead compound may be dissolved on boiling. 



Phosphocarnic acid 8 is a complicated substance, first isolated by SIEGFRIED 



1 Gulewitsch and Krimberg, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 45; Krimberg, ibid.; 49, 

 50, 53 and 56, Ber. d. d. Chem. Gesellsch. 42; Engeland, ibid., 42; Skworzow, 1. c. 



2 Weidel, Annal. d. Chem. u. Pharm., 158; Krunkenberg and Wagner, Sitzungsber. 

 d. Wurzb. phys.-med. Gesselsch., 1883; Pouchet, cited from Neubauer-Huppert, 

 Analyse des Harnes, 10. Aufl., 335; Haiser and Wenzel, Monatsch. f. Chem., 29. 



3 In regard to carnic acid and phosphocarnic acid, see the works of Siegfried, Arch, 

 f. (Anat. u.) Physiol., 1894, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Gesellsch., 28, and Zeitschr. f. 

 physiol. Chem., 21 and 28; M. Miiller, ibid., 22; Kriiger, ibid., 22 and 28; Balke and 



