248 
temperatures with or without a solvent. Allophyllotaonine differs in 
many respects very materially from phyllotaonine. Its absorption 
spectrum is quite different and resembles closely the spectrum of 
the ethyl ether of phyllotaonine. It is a much weaker base: whereas 
phyllotaonine is extracted from its ethereal solution by a 6°/ 0 hy¬ 
drochloric acid solution, allophyllotaonine does not leave the ether 
under the treatment of a 15°/ 0 hydrochloric acid. 
Allophyllotaonine may be converted into phyllotaonine by the 
prolonged action of alkalies at ordinary temperature, or much quicker 
by heating the alkaline solution for a short time to the boil. 
It is quite possible that the conversion of allophyllotaonine into 
phyllotaonine and vice versa is due to closing and reopening of 
a lactam grouping. 
The transformation of alkachlorophyll under the influence of 
acids yields quite different results if the reaction is lead at higher 
temperatures, as has been shown by Wil 1 s tätt e r x ). In this case 
substances are formed which received the name of phytorhodines. 
They are coloured red, whereas solutions of phyllotaonine in neu¬ 
tral solvents have an olive green, and allophyllotaonine a reddish 
grey, not easily defined colour. 
The fact that the transformation of alkachlorophyll takes a diffe¬ 
rent course according to the external physical conditions lead us 
to suppose that the formation of Wills tatter’s phytorhodines from 
alkachlorophyll must take place in two stages. The action of alco¬ 
holic hydrochloric acid in the cold must lead at first to the forma¬ 
tion of phyllotaonine, which under the action of the subsequent 
rise of temperature is converted into allophyllotaonine which finally 
must be converted into phytorhodines. This view has been proved 
by our experimental investigations which we intend to describe in 
this paper. 
Allophyllotaonine used in this research has been obtained by us 
by a new method which is based upon the results of our former 
investigations. One of us and C. A. Schunck have already shown 2 } 
that the baryum sediment of chlorophyll solutions obtained accor¬ 
ding to Hartley yields when treated with hydrochloric acid a sub¬ 
stance showing six absorption bands, which formerly has been 
q Liebig's Annalen 350, 1. 
2 ) Journ. Chem. Society 1900, 1080. 
