Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Feb.,  1881.  ; 
Alkaloids  of  Jaborandi  Leaves. 
71 
Researches  on  the  ALKALOIDS  of  JABORANDI  LEAVES. 
By  E.  Hamack  and  H  Meyj]r. 
In  addition  to  pilooarpin,  the  authors  have  obtained  a  second 
alkoloid  from  the  leaves  of  jaborandi  (Pilocarpus  pennatifolius),  for 
which  they  propose  the  name  of  "jaborin.''  The  separation  of  the  two 
alkaloids  depends  on  the  facts  that  free  jaborin  is  more  easily  soluble 
in  ether  and  more  sparingly  soluble  in  water  than  pilocarpin,  and  its 
platinochloride  more  soluble  in  alcohol  than  that  of  the  latter 
alkaloid  ;  also  that  the  compounds  of  jaborin  do  not  crystallize. 
The  presence  of  minute  quantities  of  jaborin  in  pilocarpin  is  most 
easily  detected  by  its  action  on  a  frog's  heart,  since  jaborin  exactly 
resembles  atropiii  in  this  respect. 
From  analyses  of  pilocarpin  aurochloride  and  platinochloride  the 
authors  assign  to  the  free  base  the  composition  indicated  by  the  for- 
mula CnIIjgN202. 
A  curious  fact  was  observed  with  reo;ard  to  its  aurochloride.  When 
pilocarpin  chloride  is  mixed  with  gold  chloride,  a  crystalline  precipi- 
tate is  obtained  consisting  of  CiiIIigN202lICl  -[-  AuCl.^.  If  this  is 
dissolved  in  alcohol  and  boiled  for  a  time,  a  crystalline  salt  having 
the  composition  CiiIIigN202+AuCl3,  separates  on  cooling. 
The  authors  are  inclined  to  class  pilocarpin  among  tertiary  dia- 
mines. Since  the  physiological  action  of  pilocarpin  is  analogous  to 
that  of  nicotin,  experiments  (which  proved  unsuccessful)  were  made 
to  ascertain  if  there  were  any  relation  between  its  composition  and 
that  of  nicotin,  CjoHj^Ng.  Pilocarpin  might,  for  example,  be  regarded 
as  a  methyl  substitution-product  of  nicotin,  thus  : 
C„H„(CH3)(HO),N,=C„H,,NA- 
This  view  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  jaborandi  leaves  yield 
pyridin  bases  among  other  products  of  their  decomposition,  and  nicotin 
does  the  same. 
Trimethylamin  is  formed  during  the  dry  distillation  of  pure  pilo- 
carpin with  excess  of  alkali,  but  no  coniin.  Also  when  crude  pilo- 
carpin was  distilled  alone  no  coniin  could  be  detected,  bul  when 
distilled  at  160°  with  excess  of  alkali  small  quantities  of  a  body  iden- 
tical with  coniin  are  formed,  as  stated  by  Poehl  ("Ber.,''  xii,  2185), 
due  probably  to  some  products  of  decomposition,  possibly  of  jaborin. 
Preparation  of  Jaborin. — The  crude  product  (commercial  prepara- 
tion of  pilocarpin,  etc.)  dissolved  in  alcohol  is  submitted  to  fractional 
